Story-Based Curriculum

Another semester has been put into the books, and I wonder how much was really learned in schools across the country, and if there was learning was it meaningful and lasting. I am amazed at how much I do not remember about my schooling, and I had a lot of schooling. Every year more and more of the details fade and I am less able to remember all of those facts and figures I worked so hard to memorize. Two years of Latin – gone. Two years of Greek – really gone. How to diagram a sentence – are you kidding. What I do remember are the larger themes and stories. I remember the environmental and self reliance lessons my grandmother taught me  while touring the mountains of Colorado. I remember the power of family and the tragedy of policy from the stories I experienced on the rez. I remember the stories of incredible resilience of the students I worked with in a boarding school in  the mountains of Southern California. So, how can we bring the power of story to the day to day learning in schools. How much in the standards really needs to be learned – does it really lead to success? Or should we build the curriculum around powerful stories and focus on the larger themes of life rather than memorizing the nits. What do you think?