A thread emerges

 

In the past few days, I have attended a workshop for Greek English Language Teachers on how to use storytelling in their classrooms, visited the Stavros Niarcos Foundation Cultural Center, and played and learned at the Emotions Museum of Athens, and I have discovered how messy and intriguing the process of real research can be.

My Fulbright research project is focused on the teaching of social emotional learning - particularly through literature - and my goal is to bring back some ideas and strategies for helping our students in Paradise Unified School district to continue to heal from the Campfire wildfire tragedy and the challenges created by the COVID pandemic. I've been honestly concerned about how that would actually work, but some wise advisors have told me to trust the process and follow my interests and oh my goodness, were they right. 

At the workshop, I was fortunate enough not only to hear some brilliant educators share strategies and lessons for how to incorporate stories and storytelling into English language teaching, but I also had the privilege of talking to the attending teachers from the area about emotional challenges their own students are facing and how they're dealing with them. I spoke to a teacher about how she's seeing students have panic attacks in her classroom for the first time and her efforts to learn how to help them - and get help for her colleagues and herself to learn from experts more techniques. I discussed with a group of other teachers how, because of the pandemic, students are a few years behind, not only academically, but in their skills for dealing with others socially. These mirror challenges we're dealing with in the United States and the workshop presented storytelling as a way to engage students and we also saw how stories could be used to help students understand and express emotions more effectively.

The Stavros Niarcos Foundation Cultural Center was a wonder that I can't possibly do justice in a few words. Here is a link to its website, so you can see the full scope of the place, with it's incredible library opera house, and grounds that include an archeological dig, but what stood out to me was the rooftop garden - an expansive stretch of green that starts on the 8th story roof and slopes down to street level, encompassing a myriad of native plants and trees, a labyrinth, a playground, and a music garden where you can play with sound. As I mentioned, there is so much more to this place, including several year round community events, but a central idea that emerged for me was a focus on play and experiential learning for all ages. 

Speaking of experiential learning, when I learned about the Emotions Museum of Athens, I knew I had to go there - it seemed tailored to my project, and when I arrived, I found it was. The director of the museum, Irini, generously took the time to tell me about the aims of the museum before encouraging me to explore and play with the interactive exhibits. She said that the museum was created in 2006 and its exhibits focus helping children of all ages explore their emotions through stories. Stories have the particular power of allowing us to experience and think about emotions from the safe place of a character's point of view - thus releasing us from the normal societal constraints of what are considered "appropriate" emotions. Children create stories in which they help the "hero" - in this case, different characters in a palace - to solve problems that they are dealing with. Irina also spoke of the power of using children's picture books which, "with just a few word and pictures capture the essence of a theme" that deals with different emotional challenges children encounter. I have used picture books with my high school classes before, but I have some ideas brewing as to how to employ them in even more ways to not only teach my content, but help students understand their own and others emotions in more comprehensive ways.

And so, the brightest thread that has emerged from my research so far is the power of stories. I have several meetings set up in the next few months with teachers from all corners of Athens, along with some of the the other parts of Greece, and my plan is just to talk with them. I will gather their stories of what's happening in their classrooms and how they're finding ways to support and connect with students. As a teacher of literature and an ardent reader, I've always known that stories are engaging and valuable, but the more people I talk to, the more I realize that stories just may be an incredibly important tool in helping our kids to heal and grow into strong, curious, connected human beings.