The Educational Storytelling Project: Three Approaches to Cross-Curricular Learning

Abstract

Three professors explicitly examined how educational dialogue and narrative informed their students' reading and writing experiences. In three introductory courses (composition, sociology, and literature), each taught in a developmental education unit within a large research university, students wrote at least one story about “social ghosts,” the strong but usually unexamined forces that shape their everyday lives. The “ghost stories” and their telling were discussed as important indicators of students' educational histories. The power of these stories to actively shape student learning outcomes was explored.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Walter R. Jacobs

Walter R. Jacobs (Ph.D., Sociology, Indiana University) is an Assistant Professor of Social Sciences in the University of Minnesota's General College. In his forthcoming book, Speaking the Lower Frequencies: Students and Media Literacy (SUNY, 2005), he examines how students use popular culture to form critical understandings of their social worlds. Correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to Dr. Walter Jacobs, University of Minnesota, General College, 252 Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected]. Thomas J. Reynolds (Ph.D., English, University of Minnesota), is an Assistant Professor of Composition in the University of Minnesota's General College. His current research interests include various aspects of composition studies, including literacy history, popular rhetorics, technologies for writing instruction, and writing across the curriculum. He may be contacted at the University of Minnesota, General College, 270 Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected]. Gregory P. Choy (Ph.D., English, University of Washington) is an Assistant Professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. He has co-authored articles on developmental education pedagogy as well as Asian American literature. Currently, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. He may be contacted at UC Berkeley, Department of Ethnic Studies, or the University of St. Thomas, Department of English, Mail #JRC 333, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected].

Thomas J. Reynolds

Walter R. Jacobs (Ph.D., Sociology, Indiana University) is an Assistant Professor of Social Sciences in the University of Minnesota's General College. In his forthcoming book, Speaking the Lower Frequencies: Students and Media Literacy (SUNY, 2005), he examines how students use popular culture to form critical understandings of their social worlds. Correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to Dr. Walter Jacobs, University of Minnesota, General College, 252 Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected]. Thomas J. Reynolds (Ph.D., English, University of Minnesota), is an Assistant Professor of Composition in the University of Minnesota's General College. His current research interests include various aspects of composition studies, including literacy history, popular rhetorics, technologies for writing instruction, and writing across the curriculum. He may be contacted at the University of Minnesota, General College, 270 Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected]. Gregory P. Choy (Ph.D., English, University of Washington) is an Assistant Professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. He has co-authored articles on developmental education pedagogy as well as Asian American literature. Currently, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. He may be contacted at UC Berkeley, Department of Ethnic Studies, or the University of St. Thomas, Department of English, Mail #JRC 333, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected].

Gregory P. Choy

Walter R. Jacobs (Ph.D., Sociology, Indiana University) is an Assistant Professor of Social Sciences in the University of Minnesota's General College. In his forthcoming book, Speaking the Lower Frequencies: Students and Media Literacy (SUNY, 2005), he examines how students use popular culture to form critical understandings of their social worlds. Correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to Dr. Walter Jacobs, University of Minnesota, General College, 252 Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected]. Thomas J. Reynolds (Ph.D., English, University of Minnesota), is an Assistant Professor of Composition in the University of Minnesota's General College. His current research interests include various aspects of composition studies, including literacy history, popular rhetorics, technologies for writing instruction, and writing across the curriculum. He may be contacted at the University of Minnesota, General College, 270 Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected]. Gregory P. Choy (Ph.D., English, University of Washington) is an Assistant Professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. He has co-authored articles on developmental education pedagogy as well as Asian American literature. Currently, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. He may be contacted at UC Berkeley, Department of Ethnic Studies, or the University of St. Thomas, Department of English, Mail #JRC 333, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105, [phone]. E-mail: [email protected].