Life Lessons through Storytelling: Children's Exploration of Ethics

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Life Lessons through Storytelling Children’s Exploration of Ethics Donna Eder with Regina Holyan Foreword by Gregory Cajete Life Lessons through Stor ytelling Eder INDIANA INDIANA University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis www.iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 Storytelling empowers children to engage in discussions; explore ideas about power, respect, community, fairness, equality, and justice; and help frame their understanding of complex ethical issues within a society. In Life Lessons through Storytelling, Donna Eder interviews elementary students and presents their responses to stories from different cultures. Using Aesop’s fables and Kenyan and Navajo storytelling traditions as models for classroom use, Eder demonstrates the value of a cross-cultural approach to teaching through storytelling , while providing deep insights into the social psychology of learning. Donna Eder is Professor of Sociology at Indiana University Bloomington. She is author of School Talk: Gender and Adolescent Culture. Regina Holyan is currently a senior staff attorney with the Navajo Nation Department of Justice and was Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Indiana Univeristy Bloomington. • Cover drawing: “Peace” by Amanda K., age 8, courtesy of Global Children’s Art Gallery, naturalchild.org • Donna Eder photo courtesy of David Duffee • Patricia Coleman photo courtesy of Mari Dagaz Education, Sociology Life Lessons MECH.indd 1 7/19/10 9:55 AM Life Lessons through Storytelling Life Lessons through Storytelling Children’s Exploration of Ethics b Donna Eder with Regina Holyan Foreword by Gregory Cajete Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA www.iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu© 2010 by Donna Eder All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. o ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Life lessons through storytelling : children’s exploration of ethics / Donna Eder with Regina Holyan; foreword by Gregory Cajete. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-22244-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Storytelling. 2. Social ethics. I. Cajete, Gregory, [date] II. Eder, Donna, [date] III. Holyan, Regina. LB1042.L48 2010 372.67’7—dc22 2010008462 1 2 3 4 5 15 14 13 12 11 10 For David Duffee and to the memory of Eugene Eder ...