Life Lessons through Storytelling

"Eder (sociology, Indiana Univ., Bloomington), author of 'School Talk: Gender and Adolescent Culture' (CH, Apr'96, 33-4640), devoted a sabbatical to a study of the role of storytelling in the ethical development of children. Based on an examination of two groups of fourth and fifth graders, one in a rural environment and one in an urban environment, Eder and her colleagues examined how stories from the Navaho, Kenyan, and European oral traditions affected the learning of social responsibility and community obligations. There is a chapter that discusses the relevance of oral tradition for contemporary storytelling, authored by Regina Holyan of the Navaho Nation Department of Justice. Another chapter about Kenyan oral tradition, 'Rabbit Tales (Tails)', is coauthored with Tiffani Saunders, and 'Lessons from the Hyena' is coauthored with Oluwatope Fashola. . . . it is a clear argument for the benefits of multicultural study. . . — Choice"—A. W. Petersen, emeritus, Buena Vista University, April 2011

"Educatiors, scholars, and non-scholars alike will highly appreciate Donna Eder's study . . . In this book, she not only reclaims the significance of storytelling within Western culture but also reintroduces the act of storytelling into the school curriculum. March 30, 2011"—Journal of Folklore Research

"An Life Lessons through Storytelling by Donna Eder is an engaging and timely, cross-cultural study of storytelling as a vehicle for children's social and ethical learning. Eder begins with interviews of Navajo and Kenyan storytellers and educators, providing in-depth knowledge about the nature and value of their storytelling traditions. She then presents group interviews with fourth- and fifth-grade students, exploring their responses to teaching stories from different cultures, relating them to their own lives. Concluding sections contextualize findings within existing research and explore issues of practical application in the classroom. Readers will see how storytelling empowers youth to engage in discussions, explore a range of issues from power, respect and community to fairness, equality and justice, and come to frame their own understandings of complex ethical issues within a society. Examining Aesop's Fables and Kenyan and Navajo storytelling traditions as models for classroom use, An Ethical Compass demonstrates the value of a cross-cultural approach to teaching through storytelling while providing deep insights into the social psychology of learning."—

"[T]his book offers a cross culture, indterdisciplinary study of breadth and depth together with [Eder's] acknowledgements, analysis and advocacy."—B.C. Folklore