Inquiry Question: How might we transform the classroom into a storytelling community where narratives become bridges between learning, lived experiences, and belonging.
This question arises from a few problems of practice that I have encountered in the last few years as Middle School teacher. The first being my desire to be more intentional in de-centering myself and uplifting student voices in the classroom. My goal is for students to view themselves as knowledge producers and as agents of their own stories. When students see themselves as storytellers, they can better understand that great stories are not only those available in a revered “canon” but can come from their own peers.
In addition, I have noticed that students in my classrooms are finding it more difficult each year to really connect with eachother without screens acting as intermediaries. As screens increasingly compete for our attention, students seem to become more and more detached from real-time engagement with their peers, and the real-world consequences of their online actions. This is exacerbated by the over-packed schedules of students in a particularly high-achieving school setting. Having little free time to slow down, connect and engage with peers in a meaningful way means that rifts between students grow wider, and the ability to find points of connection becomes more difficult. One symptom of this is that I have students who, many months into the school year, do not know some of their peers names. I believe that storytelling could be a bridge between students, a way in which they might unearth things about eachother that they otherwise wouldn’t.
A few prompts that I have proposed for my students recently:
-Tell the story of a time where you felt most like you belonged. What was it that made you feel that way?
-Tell the story of a time where you had to say goodbye to someone or something, and how did you grow from it?
Because of the subjects that I teach (English and Humanities), there are some clear connections to storytelling. Middle schoolers are natural storytellers and I was looking for ways to really facilitate and encourage this. In my humanities classroom, the concept of oral storytelling could be an entrypoint to discussing decolonizing ways of knowing. I also see broader potential applications for this inquiry question. For now, I have been trying to find small ways to incorporate more opportunities for storytelling in my English and Humanities classrooms. Moving forward, I wonder if “Storytelling”might become the thematic thread that runs through my Grade 7 English course. I could imagine each unit being tied to a different form or element of storytelling, with students studying various text types and genres throughout. Units could include, for example:
-Oral Storytelling
-Digital Storytelling
-First-Person Storytelling
Below is an excerpt from my conversation with the AI Coach:
- Because in my classroom, there is a fight against the curriculum — always trying to get through content means less opportunity for student connection. Perhaps not enough time for them to really talk to eachother and engage — too much independent work or lecturing happening. If students don’t already know each other socially, they don’t find class time the appropriate time to be asking deeper or meaningful questions of eachother.
2.Connections not naturally occuring because of reasons stated above. Also, students in their overall schedule have so little time to interact, have unstructured time, play, talk to eachother and connect, even outside of class time. Lack of agency over what happens to them during a regular school day. - Preventing this from happening – partly teen social dynamics, unwillingness to engage with others that they perceive as outside their social circle. Partly students seeing others as a hurdle to their own learning, if they feel they will be “brought down” by others who are not as willing to engage or participate.
Thank you for this insightful analysis. Several key tensions are emerging:
- Curriculum coverage vs. community building time
- Structured vs. unstructured interaction opportunities
- Academic achievement vs. social connection
- Individual success vs. collective growth
Before we craft our HMW question, let’s focus on reframing these challenges into opportunities. You’ve identified that when given the right structure (like the artifact activity), students will share meaningfully. You’ve also noticed that the system itself (curriculum pressure, limited unstructured time) might be working against your goals for building belonging.
Let me propose a draft HMW question, and then we can refine it together:
“How might we integrate meaningful peer connections into academic learning time so that students develop deeper relationships while engaging with curriculum?”
What do you think about this as a starting point? Consider:
- Does it address the core tension between curriculum and connection that you’ve identified?
- Is it too broad or too narrow?
- Does it leave room for multiple possible solutions?
- Does it miss any crucial aspects of the belonging challenge you want to address?
Feel free to suggest modifications or share what aspects resonate or don’t resonate with you. We can iterate together to make it stronger.
It does leave room for multiple possible solutions. My interest, in particular, is around using storytelling as a method for creating that student connection. I see this as a potential way into the problem because it is something that has natural connections to the curriculum that I teach.
Ah, this is a valuable insight! Your experience with the artifact storytelling activity, combined with your recognition of storytelling’s natural curriculum connections, gives us a more focused direction. Let’s refine our HMW question to leverage this specific approach.
Before we craft the revised question, let me ask:
- What subject(s) do you teach? This will help us understand the specific curricular connections to storytelling.
- When you envision storytelling as a bridge to belonging, what forms could this take beyond the artifact activity? For example:
- Student-to-student storytelling?
- Written narratives?
- Digital storytelling?
- Personal connections to curriculum content?
- What makes storytelling particularly powerful for building belonging in your experience? Is it the vulnerability, the shared experiences, the cultural connections, or something else?
This will help us craft an HMW question that specifically leverages storytelling as a tool for belonging while maintaining those important curriculum connections you’ve identified. We want to build on what you’ve already seen work while opening up new possibilities.
- I teach English and Humanities/Social Science. 2.I think any and all forms, including oral storytelling, sharing about their daily lives, as well as higher level stories with a particular purpose. 3.Storytelling is a particularly powerful tool because students are natural storytellers, and every one of them has a story to tell. This is innate, and something that they do all the time anyway. Creating a framework and making it more intentional is just a vessel through which to have them share this in the classroom.
This is fantastic! Your insight about students being natural storytellers and the universal nature of storytelling is particularly powerful. You’re essentially looking to harness something they already do naturally and create intentional spaces for it within the academic framework. This aligns beautifully with both your English and Humanities curriculum while addressing the belonging challenge.
Let me propose a refined HMW question:
“How might we harness students’ natural storytelling abilities to create meaningful connections while deepening their engagement with English and Humanities content?”
Alternative version to consider:
“How might we transform our classroom into a storytelling community where personal narratives become bridges for belonging and academic learning?”
Let’s evaluate these questions:
- Do they capture the intentionality you want to bring to storytelling?
- Do they maintain enough flexibility for various forms of storytelling?
- Do they address both the belonging and curriculum aspects you’re trying to balance?
- Are they specific enough to guide action but broad enough to allow for creative solutions?
Which version resonates more with your vision, or how might we adjust them to better capture what you’re trying to achieve? Remember, the perfect HMW question should feel both inspiring and actionable.
