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The What, How and Why of Storytelling Pedagogy

Phillips, L.G., Nguyen, T.T.P. (2021). Introduction: The What, How and Why of Storytelling Pedagogy. In: Phillips, L.G., Nguyen, T.T.P. (eds) Storytelling Pedagogy in Australia & Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4009-4_1

Storytelling has long served as a foundational educational practice across cultures, transmitting knowledge, values, history, and identity long before the written word. Contemporary scholarship affirms that storytelling remains a powerful pedagogical approach because it enables learners to construct meaning rather than simply receive information. This research highlights that storytelling fosters imagination, empathy, relational connection, and shared knowledge creation. Unlike didactic instruction, stories invite interpretation, allowing learners to connect content to their own experiences and cultural contexts. This openness supports deeper understanding, critical thinking, and emotional engagement. The chapter identifies four defining principles of storytelling pedagogy: - Relationality – storytelling builds community and strengthens teacher–learner connections. - Responsiveness – stories are shaped in dialogue with audiences, making learning adaptive and culturally situated. - Empathetic imagination – storytelling nurtures perspective-taking and understanding of human complexity. - Knowledge creation – meaning emerges collaboratively through shared interpretation. Together, these principles position storytelling not as an occasional classroom strategy, but as a coherent pedagogical framework capable of shaping curriculum, strengthening identity, revitalising language, and fostering intercultural understanding. For the Telling Your Stories Project, this work provides a strong theoretical and practical foundation for embedding relational, imaginative, and culturally responsive storytelling practices at the heart of teaching and learning.

Storytelling has long served as a foundational educational practice across cultures, transmitting knowledge, values, history, and identity long before the written word. Contemporary scholarship affirms that storytelling remains a powerful pedagogical approach because it enables learners to construct meaning rather than simply receive information.

This research highlights that storytelling fosters imagination, empathy, relational connection, and shared knowledge creation. Unlike didactic instruction, stories invite interpretation, allowing learners to connect content to their own experiences and cultural contexts. This openness supports deeper understanding, critical thinking, and emotional engagement.

The chapter identifies four defining principles of storytelling pedagogy:
- Relationality – storytelling builds community and strengthens teacher–learner connections.
- Responsiveness – stories are shaped in dialogue with audiences, making learning adaptive and culturally situated.
- Empathetic imagination – storytelling nurtures perspective-taking and understanding of human complexity.
- Knowledge creation – meaning emerges collaboratively through shared interpretation.

Together, these principles position storytelling not as an occasional classroom strategy, but as a coherent pedagogical framework capable of shaping curriculum, strengthening identity, revitalising language, and fostering intercultural understanding.
For the Telling Your Stories Project, this work provides a strong theoretical and practical foundation for embedding relational, imaginative, and culturally responsive storytelling practices at the heart of teaching and learning.

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