From a very early age we are told stories and from this we learn the important skills of how to interact and relate to others. The art of story telling is a complicated assortment of applying personal experience, the use of important communication skills and the ability to relate to the intended audience. On page 151, (paragraph 3), Rosen mentions the use of the "hidden repertoire" of skills that we learn throughout our lifetime. This repertoire of skills includes tone, intonation, suitable language and appropriate reactions to our audience's behaviour. These skills are imperative to our becoming a good "story teller" and as such an effective informal educator. .
Education commences at the Mothers knee and every word spoken within hearsay of little children lends towards the formation of character.
(Horsea Ballou, 1771-1852, US Clergyman).
Whilst this quote was written in 1971 I feel it relates to the main theme prevalent in the writings of Rosen in "We are our Stories". That is that communication, (Words spoken, conversation, story telling, etc), is significant in the transference of knowledge, experience and socialisation. This view is also supported by Carl Rogers who put proposed the view that "conversation lies at the centre of informal education". .
Throughout my work I have identified that young people seem more confident in acquiring newly presented knowledge and in testing their views and perceptions through the use of conversation or anecdotes. They often use storytelling to allow for their "reflective observation" of situations or events by discussing their own interpretations and theories and asking others for their opinions, experiences or theories. With the use of "abstract conceptualisation" a newly formed theory can be put to the test when, or if, the event or situation re-occurs. This relates to the "theory of experiential learning", as proposed by Kolb (1984). .
