“When You Tell a Personal Story, I Kind of Perk up a Little Bit More”: An Examination of Student Learning From Listening to Personal Stories in Two Social Diversity Courses

Abstract

This article explores the role of personal storytelling about social identity-related experiences in two diversity courses that were informed by social justice education pedagogies with a focus on race/ethnicity and racism. The two courses included racially diverse groups of students in two undergraduate diversity courses at two Northeast universities (a social diversity and oppression course, and a race/ethnicity intergroup dialogue course). Participants describe a variety of learning outcomes after listening to personal stories. Findings also indicate that students across identities value storytelling, describing it as engaging, enjoyable, and integral to their learning. This underscores the value and impact of face-to-face, synchronous learning as a valid, transformative, and critical educational method in diversity courses.

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Notes on contributors

Molly G. Keehn

Molly G. Keehn is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she received her doctorate in Social Justice Education and is currently a part-time consultant and Instructor at UMASS Amherst teaching courses on Intergroup Dialogue theory and facilitation. Molly is the co-creator of “The Co-Accountant Project,” a peer support tool designed to facilitate goal achievement through human connection and accountability.