Growing Adoption of Storytelling in Schools

Aug. 30, 2023, 3:54 p.m.

As long as curiosity stays within people, the potential of storytelling never ends. It is this power of storytelling that is adopted by schools nowadays to enhance learning outcomes. Recent studies have proven this exceptional ability of storytelling format in developing incredible learning outputs.

Storytelling is beneficial for both teaching and learning. The approach can bring a participatory learning atmosphere and promote self-learning which is highly inevitable in today's educational scenario. The education boards have started introducing audio books and story-based syllabi to encourage this approach to teaching. This brings in an engaged learning atmosphere and makes the concepts more interesting to comprehend for the learners. In 2021, the CBSE Board introduced storytelling as a pedagogical tool. This was widely accepted by the State boards as well and the results were astonishing.

Attention-grabbing and the degree of retention from the learner's perspective are high in this storytelling approach to academics. Various endeavourstowards this approach are worth mentioning. The introduction of audiobooks in schools by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and workshops conducted by the National Book Trust to facilitate such efforts are noteworthy ventures. The introduction of 'Jadui Pitara' for students by NCERT is yet another example. Even in some schools of Maharashtra and Odisha, storytelling was incorporated into mainstream subjects to enhance the cognitive abilities of students.

The storytelling approach to education is in perfect sync with the NEP 2020 and helps the learners connect with their roots. Apart from making learning joyful for students, It is also helpful in bridging the learning gaps among the primary and pre-primary students. This storytelling format is not only applicable to language teaching but also to science and maths subjects. This removes monotony and makes the classrooms vibrant and can be termed a highly positive leap in the education sector in the present era.