Storytelling Best Practices
Knowing Nothing: Curiosity in Oral History
By Joell Hallowell Joell is a writer, editor, and experimental filmmaker living in San Francisco. Her books include Lawfully Wedded Wives (Spuyten Duyvil, 2013) and Take Me to the River (Heyday Books, 2010). With Meg Withers (interviewed on WordMothers …
We All Have a Story to Tell
“We all have a story to tell.” These are the words that greet my 4th grade students as they enter my classroom every day. At the beginning of the school year, I told them my …
Oral History and Vulnerability
Renowned oral historian Alessandro Portelli refers to the optimal interview experience as a “mutual sighting” between interviewer and narrator. Sounds great, doesn’t it? I’d like to have a mutual sighting! Who wouldn’t? As an educator, …
What’s Your Story?
by William Ayers William Ayers is a member of the Voice of Witness Educational Advisory Board. He is a former Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago …
How Are Single Stories Dangerous?
By Claire Sorrenson Claire Sorrenson is a former Voice of Witness Education Program Intern with a passion for telling stories that drive social change. Claire currently works in the nonprofit communications sector. By now, anyone …
The Delicate Act of Oral History
By Inge Oosterhoff, former VOW Education Intern Before starting as an intern at Voice of Witness, I had little experience with oral history. I came to Voice of Witness as a Dutch MA student of North …
Can We Teach Empathy?
by Alisa Del Tufo Alisa Del Tufo is the founder of Threshhold Collaborative and an Ashoka Fellow. She works at the nexus of practice and policy with the goal of ending violence in the lives …
A Tale of Two Everyday Heroes
By Lisa Thyer, English teacher at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois Like any good English teachers, my colleague Mary and I were always looking for new ways to engage our students. Oral …
