From K-12 Dive
By Lauren Barack
March 16, 2022
Dive Brief:
When teachers share personal stories with students about their own lives, it can help deepen rapport and build a level of trust that may encourage learners to open up about themselves as well, Rachel Jorgensen, coordinator of work-based learning at Anoka-Hennepin Public Schools in Minnesota, writes for Edutopia.
Before sharing, educators may want to consider some pre-planning to ensure their stories resonate but are also appropriate, avoiding personal details that might leave students feeling uneasy, Jorgensen writes. Thinking through stories in advance can ensure sharing is free from bias, indirectly or directly.
By sharing, educators can also help to create a safe space for students who may want to share, especially if teachers talk about personal obstacles they’ve faced. Crucially, though, students must not feel they have to reciprocate if they don’t want to divulge personal stories themselves, Jorgensen suggests.
Dive Insight:
Carefully selected anecdotes peppered throughout a lesson can help to humanize educators and contextualize in-class learning for students. These stories are almost an extension of real-world learning, but brought through the singular lens of a teacher.
First-person examples and original sourcing are effective research tools for students to learn. These are the underpinnings of media literacy, where classes are taught how to dive deep when researching sources of information.
When paired with lessons on historical events, these stories can also give students new perspective. This is akin to eyewitness accounts, and can include inviting guests to talk about their experiences as observers to events such as 9/11 or their time serving in the military.
These personal stories can also include educators sharing their own struggles with subjects such as math or the sciences. This teaching strategy can help students understand they’re not alone in facing an academic hurdle and build the confidence to work through it knowing their teacher faced difficulties studying the same topics.
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