Storytelling in the Classroom - New Research by Jilliane Yawney

In this podcast, Jillian Yawney, a graduate student in Canada, discusses her recent research which documents how the use of storytelling in a classroom setting helps students work through the research process.

Jilliane Yawney was eighteen years old when she attended her first storytelling festival. She was so affected by the magic of the experience that within the next month she enrolled in private drama lessons and began her journey into the world of storytelling. Shortly after this, Jilliane received an Associates of Speech and Dramatic Arts and began teaching drama to her own students. Later she pursued a degree in drama from the University of Lethbridge. She has competed in festivals, told stories in libraries, in schools and in the community.

After using storytelling in the school system and witnessing its ability to captivate students, Jilliane was convinced that storytelling had an important role in classroom instruction. While pursuing a Master's of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta she received a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This grant enabled Jilliane to spend a year researching how storytelling can help students work their way through the research process.