Participation Type
Theater
Session Title
Session 1.16 Readings and Theater
Presentation #1 Title
'Tater Eyes and 'Possum Houses: A New Role for Storytelling in Place-based Pedagogy
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
The storytelling tradition is as ancient as these mountains. Whether it’s folktales about trickster animals, ghost stories, or personal narratives, tellers and listeners mutually create a story space, a shared internal world that exists only in the memory of the teller and mind of the listener. How can we, as educators in Appalachia, use storytelling in place-based pedagogy? This reader's theater, co-created by undergraduate researchers who participated in the 2013 Appalachian Teaching Project, transcended the bounds of the traditional classroom and took students to the fields, gardens, and homes of local elders. Students not only preserved heirloom seeds and documented dying foodways practices but also listened deeply and intentionally. They came to view the storytellers as valuable, respected individuals instead of uneducated, powerless, poverty-stricken old folks. Such is the power of story.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Rosann Kent is the director of the Appalachian Studies Program at the University of North Georgia. She has a master's in storytelling from East Tennessee State University.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Avery Alexander is a junior at the University of North Georgia. She is majoring in middle grades education and minoring in Appalachian Studies.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Elizabeth Guzman is a senior at the University of North Georgia. She is majoring in history and minoring in Appalachian Studies.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Kaitlin Brackett is a junior at the University of North Georgia. She is majoring in middle grades education and minoring in Appalachian Studies.
'Tater Eyes and 'Possum Houses: A New Role for Storytelling in Place-based Pedagogy
Smith Hall 154
The storytelling tradition is as ancient as these mountains. Whether it’s folktales about trickster animals, ghost stories, or personal narratives, tellers and listeners mutually create a story space, a shared internal world that exists only in the memory of the teller and mind of the listener. How can we, as educators in Appalachia, use storytelling in place-based pedagogy? This reader's theater, co-created by undergraduate researchers who participated in the 2013 Appalachian Teaching Project, transcended the bounds of the traditional classroom and took students to the fields, gardens, and homes of local elders. Students not only preserved heirloom seeds and documented dying foodways practices but also listened deeply and intentionally. They came to view the storytellers as valuable, respected individuals instead of uneducated, powerless, poverty-stricken old folks. Such is the power of story.
