Stories for change...
I love words. I love the way language can be used to express profound truths and to help us understand ourselves and the world we live in. I love the way words can look and sound and feel, the beauty that can blossom from powerful words.
I started writing stories and poems as soon as I could pen words on paper, and started working as a journalist for a local newspaper when I was in high school. I've published hundreds of articles on a variety of print and electronic platforms, and have channeled my love for words into my work as an English teacher for 20 years. Poetry has remained a deep love and, in the last few years, I have been able to publish some poems in print and virtual venues. Stories are never far from my mind.
As a service learning and global citizenship educator, I believe words are a natural platform to understand our current context, and to respond and act based on what we know. We have always understood our world and each other through stories, and I believe we can use words as a foundation to understand what is happening right now in our world, to learn from each other, and to build changemaker ecosystems in
our schools. Stories can help us listen to each other and build intercultural understanding. Stories can help us unpack the root causes of local and global issues and bring help us understand privilege, power and the systems where we can participate in dialogue and meaning-making. They can help us understand assets and abundance, and how these might look very different in varied cultures and contexts.
There is so much recent research that explores how storytelling affects our brains and why this is a powerful way for us to help students learn.
If you're interested in engaging in workshops, all-day sessions or multi-day settings that open up
genuine and meaningful reflection and action, let's connect. I work with adults and students in this realm, and all sessions can be tailored to your interests and needs.
I started writing stories and poems as soon as I could pen words on paper, and started working as a journalist for a local newspaper when I was in high school. I've published hundreds of articles on a variety of print and electronic platforms, and have channeled my love for words into my work as an English teacher for 20 years. Poetry has remained a deep love and, in the last few years, I have been able to publish some poems in print and virtual venues. Stories are never far from my mind.
As a service learning and global citizenship educator, I believe words are a natural platform to understand our current context, and to respond and act based on what we know. We have always understood our world and each other through stories, and I believe we can use words as a foundation to understand what is happening right now in our world, to learn from each other, and to build changemaker ecosystems in
our schools. Stories can help us listen to each other and build intercultural understanding. Stories can help us unpack the root causes of local and global issues and bring help us understand privilege, power and the systems where we can participate in dialogue and meaning-making. They can help us understand assets and abundance, and how these might look very different in varied cultures and contexts.
There is so much recent research that explores how storytelling affects our brains and why this is a powerful way for us to help students learn.
If you're interested in engaging in workshops, all-day sessions or multi-day settings that open up
genuine and meaningful reflection and action, let's connect. I work with adults and students in this realm, and all sessions can be tailored to your interests and needs.
Digital Stories: Watch this webinar recording to explore how
digital storytelling can be a catalyst for
civic readiness and global citizenship
Some examples of my own recent engagement with storytelling...
PoetrySince August 2020, I have been writing with a group of poets in Shanghai. We started with a challenge to write 100 poems in 100 days and once we all established a daily writing practice, we continued to write and share our work daily after the first 100 days passed.
It's been a wonderful experience, and one of my poems was published on the Literary Shanghai website (click here to see the poem). Others have been featured in the print version of ASPZ (A Shanghai Poetry Zine) and on my Instagram collection. |
JournalismI've been a journalist since I was a teenager, working for a local newspaper and then CBC's Ontario Morning radio program. In our 20s, my husband and I launched a small publishing company in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and for nine years we published a community newspaper. When we transitioned into teaching, we continued teaching students how to publish their work, and I kept writing and publishing work, too. Here is a recent piece I wrote for the journal of the International Council of Teachers of English and for the
Well-Being in International Schools Magazine (pgs 31-32). |
Digital StorytellingIn my role as the service learning coach at Concordia International School Shanghai, I supported the creation and growth of our community digital storytelling platform Citizen C.
We (teachers and students) published stories, podcasts and videos on a range of topics, including service learning and global citizenship. Also check out my blog to see examples of digital storytelling in many forms, and also to glean resources that may support your work as a service learning or global citizenship educator. |
