Exchanging Stories for a Better World

by Rebecca Gillman, ICS Teacher

The Grade 9 Language and Literature team hosted its first story exchange, a unit designed to explore the power of storytelling and its capacity to build bridges between people. 

All Grade 9 students participated in a four-step protocol that involved sharing a story with a partner, then retelling that story in a story circle from their partner’s perspective. They were guided by the questions: How does storytelling foster empathy and intercultural competence? and Can participating in story exchanges peace, justice and greater fairness in the world?

Simple? Yes! But also profound. 

ICS community members and friends (including ten residents from Mekedonia Centre, one of our community partners) got together to engage in this experience. Teachers, students, security guards, administrators, accountants from our Finance Department, and many more members participated in what turned out to be a beautiful day of storytelling. Everyone left with a greater sense of belonging and empathy.

Here’s what some of our Grade 9 students had to say about the experience:

“I think it’s pretty direct and obvious to say that the Story Exchange session with the adults and students from all around our school was the most beneficial and memorable activity we did overall as a grade. And I say this because this was really a point in the unit where we got to dive deep into creating bonds and connections with realistic events and stories that had once happened to the people whom we walk past by in our everyday lives.”

“Through this story exchange and through this unit, I learned how to think in different perspectives and how to connect my own experiences, thoughts, and feelings to other people to build empathy. I have developed my social and communication skills through the story exchange activity when listening to others and connecting my story with theirs to build a strong relationship bond between us. My next steps to develop my thinking skills would be to always connect my thoughts and experiences with other people, to quickly build on to my deep thinking skills.”

“.... While walking back to class, I thought about what Mr. Pines had said and how I could apply this whenever I have an argument or disagreement in the future. It also made me wonder why countries in conflict insist on fighting. This story clearly shows how much easier and more peaceful it is to discuss amongst each other rather than to fight. I thought about how much better the world would be if everyone did a story exchange and understood each other’s perspectives. It would allow them to understand that they’re not that different from each other after all. This would not only create peace in many countries but would allow people to learn from each other and their different cultures. Imagine a world like this and what it would look like.” 

“I’d come into this story exchange expecting to hear a meaningless story about someone’s old best friend or childhood memory that made them change their perspective, but never could I ever have expected to connect with a random person and understand their life just a little bit better through stories. And personally, I’d never much reflected on the atmosphere I’d grown up in, and this story exchange made me recognise what I have and understand not to take it for granted.” 

“The story exchange gave me another perspective on life and a better understanding of life. When the people from Mekedonia started talking about how their lives fell apart in just a few years, this taught me to enjoy every minute of my life because you can never know when it can fall apart.”

“From this exchange, I have learned the importance of sharing life experiences with people and the benefits that this can have not only for the development of empathy but also for the sharing of life lessons. Following this I will be sure to seek out people's life stories and use the deep listening skills that I have learned to make strong bonds with them.”

“Something that I noticed during our Story Exchange was that all three of the grown-ups' stories revolved around people and the effect they had on their lives, while us students' stories were about different experiences of our lives. This was one thing that made me think, ‘Maybe when I get older, I will take more notice of how people contributed to my upbringing’. This experience has also allowed me to work on my deep listening skills revealing the mannerisms and body language of listening that I wouldn't otherwise be consciously aware of.”

Want to listen to a student podcast about the experience? Click here.

Want to read a feature article about this experience? Click here for one and here for another.

Want to hear what our friends at Mekedonia Centre thought about the experience? Listen to a reflection sound bite here.