In a talk of our Strange Crochet group the notions of a magician and the land of poetry and fairy tales were brought up. That was wonderful to hear. I am convinced that these are powerful forces for learning. Poems and stories help us to start our imagination and new ways of thinking.
Human beings have always moved other humans with the help of stories into a world of imagination, possibilities of another life, a start of learning. Some time ago I have learned from a magician a method for motivation. He gave a workshop about conjuring tricks in order to motivate learners. This works always very well as long as you don’t overact. And because I am only a sorcerer’s apprentice, I have to stick to the magic of numbers and imagination.
I always liked the answer of the Cheshire Cat, when Alice in Wonderland asks it about the way: «That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.» This can be read as an allusion to a learning objective, and therefore I used this encounter as the background for my motivating trick:
Alice will take you with her into the wonderland of imagination.
When I read this I thought of the British traveller, writer and historian Bruce Chatwin and his book Songlines, lifting the ancient ways Australian aboriginies have managed to mix over the continent. A fantastic book, and one that corresponds well to stories as the carrier of culture.
/Lars
Stories help to frame the world and allow us to learn. The seven basic story stypes are said to be:
Quest
Overcoming the Monster
Rags to Riches
Voyage and Return
Tragedy
Rebirth and Comedy
These simple types have given birth to a myriad of tales that act as powerful forces for learning, a point you make with regard to your ONL experience.