July 16, 2024

Empowering Children Through Storytelling and Play with Dr. Ben Mardell

34 minutes

In this episode, Laura welcomes Dr. Ben Mardell, a mentor who has profoundly influenced her understanding of storytelling and story acting. Dr. Mardell, the Atelierista and Pedagogista at the Newtown School, shares his extensive experience in early childhood education. Together they talk about the excitement and learning that storytelling brings to young children.

Highlights:

Power Dynamics: Laura and Ben discuss the importance of shifting the power dynamics when learning alongside children. Ben explains how empowering children enhances the overall power and capability of a classroom or family, rather than diminishing adult authority.

Storytelling as Play: Laura and Ben met through their work with Storytelling and Storyacting. They chat about how storytelling is inherently playful, allowing children to express agency and creativity.

Being a Storytelling: Ben shares a memorable storytelling experience from year ago, where he discovered the power of storytelling in engaging children. Laura and Ben discuss the importance of being present and engaged while telling stories.

Storytelling is essential in early childhood education. You need to incorporate it into your daily rhythms. You can start small and embrace all the imperfections of storytelling, practice leads to improvement and deeper connections with children! If you’re looking for some practical advice on embracing being a storyteller, or how to bring storytelling to life in your classroom, listen up!

Connect with Laura: @little.stories.that.stick & website

Learn more about Storytelling and Storyacting with this free handout

Download a PDF of the book “A Pedagogy of Play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools” by Ben Mardell, Jen Ryan, Mara Krechevsky, Megina Baker, Savhannah Schulz, and Yvonne Liu Constant

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