Season 7 Episode #16: The Power of Storytelling in Multicultural Education

Send us a text

Storytelling is the heartbeat of cultural education. When students encounter stories from different backgrounds, something magical happens—they develop empathy, affirm their identities, and sharpen critical thinking skills that extend far beyond classroom walls.

Throughout this episode, we explore why multicultural stories are non-negotiable components of effective education. Stories engage the emotional centers of our brains, creating deeper connections to content than facts alone ever could. I share my experience using Maya Angelou's work about a young Xhosa girl and her pet chicken—a seemingly simple narrative that sparked profound conversations about cultural similarities and differences without judgment. We also examine the beloved Anansi the Spider folktales that resonate with students of all ages, demonstrating how traditional stories carry timeless wisdom across generations.

Finding authentic cultural stories requires intentionality. Seek out authors writing from lived experiences rather than those merely observing from the outside. Invite community members—parents, neighbors, local leaders—to share oral histories that might otherwise go untold, especially as books continue to be banned across the country. I provide a step-by-step guide to implementing the powerful "My Name, My Story" exercise in your classroom tomorrow, walking you through how to model vulnerability, facilitate meaningful partner discussions, and guide whole-group reflections that build community while honoring diversity.

Ready to transform your approach to cultural education? Download my name and narrative handout from the show notes, or explore my newly discounted mini-courses designed to help you implement these practices with confidence. Your students' stories are the curriculum—let's honor them together by creating classrooms where every narrative matters.

Maya Angelou's Book: My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me

COME SAY Hey!!

Instagram: @cultrallyjebeh_

Facebook: @JebehCulturalConsulting

Pinterest: @Jebeh Cultural Consulting

LinkedIn: @Jebeh Cultural Consulting

Leave a Review on our Podcast! We value your feedback!

Follow our Blog

Enroll In Our Mini Courses
Buy My eBook: Empowering Your BIPOC Students

Enroll In My Digital Course: How To Be A Culturally Competent Leader

Buy My K-12 Lesson Plans

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Enjoy the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast? Share the love! Refer a friend to Buzzsprout and both you and your friend will enjoy exclusive benefits. Click the link...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello there, cultural champions, Welcome back
to the Cultural Curriculum Chat.
I'm your host, jebe Edmonds,and today we are unpacking the
power of storytelling inmulticultural education.
Why it's non-negotiable, whereyou can find authentic stories,

(00:20):
how to build one into your dailylessons.
Stay with me for a specialannouncement on my newly priced
mini and full courses designedto help you go from I want to
try this to.
I'm leading the charge in lessthan two hours.
Let's dive in Now.

(00:40):
Storytelling is the heartbeat ofculture.
When we share stories, we'redoing more than just reading
words.
We're weaving in empathy,identity and perspective, taking
into every discussion when it'swrapped in a narrative versus

(01:07):
straight facts.
And why is that?
Because stories engage theparts of our brain tied to
emotion, memory and worldviews.
Now, in multicultural education, stories do three things.
One, they affirm identity.
So when students hear theirexperiences reflected, their
sense of belonging skyrockets.
So think of it.
A lot of students want torelate with their peers, and

(01:32):
they also want to be affirmedthat their identities might be
different.
So having people share theirown lived experiences really
opens up to understanding ofdifferent cultures, and by doing
that, you also build empathy.
Hearing a story from anotherculture invites curiosity and

(01:53):
not judgment.
For example, we used to readthis book when I taught my first
graders Maya Angelou's book myFriend, my Pet Chicken and Me
I'll have the correct title,it's just off the top of my head

(02:16):
, but it showed this little girlwho was a Xhosa girl in
Southern Africa, and it talkedabout her day-to-day life going
to school.
She was about the kids' age, infirst grade, and she had her
favorite pet, her chicken.
And how this story came aboutwith Maya Angelou is she wanted
to show a narrative, a story ofother kids around the world that

(02:39):
go to school just like you, andit also built empathy of
understanding.
Wow, this young girl has herfriendly pet chicken and she
loves telling her chicken hersecrets because chickens can't
speak and talk and share hersecrets with her friends.
So I would use this book as awonderful example of where is in

(03:02):
your life Do you write yoursecrets down on paper, do you
share it with your pet dog ormaybe your own pet chicken, and
it just opens up a wide array ofempathy and understanding.
We might have the same type ofroutines going to school, doing
chores but the really cool thingabout it is we're not having

(03:25):
judgment if this young girl hasa pet chicken.
You might know somebody wholives on a farm in America that
also has pet chickens.
The third key thing aboutstorytelling in multicultural
education is sparking criticalthinking.
Students can compare, contrastand ask why, when multiple

(03:46):
narratives are on the table,think about it.
When you are sparking criticalthinking, you might want to
think about okay, this persondid react to this particular
event.
Would you react in the same way?
Would you react in the same wayor how would you react
differently?
That also can help withsparking comparing and

(04:10):
contrasting.
Venn diagrams are one of thebest graphic organizers.
When you are having that sparkof critical thinking, that's
when students can look and seetheir similarities versus
differences and theircommonalities as well in the
middle matrix of those Venndiagrams.

(04:30):
I love a good folktale and oneof my favorite folktales was
Anansi the Spider.
I read it to my first gradersand all the way up to my fifth
graders and each student, nomatter the grade level, really
resonated with this tricksterarachnid.
He loved playing tricks on allthe animals in the forest and

(04:51):
the coolest thing about that isAnansi always got a taste of his
own medicine.
And so when you are thinkingabout what other folk tales or
even stories that have beenpassed down from generation to
generation in our families.
That would be a wonderful wayto seek out authentic stories

(05:15):
that we all carry.
Now, before we do that, findthese stories, it's not enough
to just Google diversity picturebooks or pick the first thing
that pops up when it comes to ohlet's see if we can find
something here.
No, your authenticity mattersNow.

(05:35):
These are some really goodsources that I recommend Authors
that have their own voices intheir literature.
I want you to seek out authorswriting from their own lived
experiences.
Invite community voices.
I always say this in my showand in my podcast that your

(05:56):
neighbors, your parents that arein adults, that are tied to
your students' lives, areexperts in the community.
So invite a parent, a neighboror even a local leader to share
an oral history and also definewhat does oral history mean and
how does that come about, andalso the significance of why

(06:20):
oral history is so important.
So many things in our societytoday are being banned.
Lived experience stories arebeing banned throughout the
country.
Even down to picture booksabout events in our history and
present day have been banned andsilenced.
So when we're talking aboutoral history.

(06:41):
Talk about the power of oralhistory.
When things get erased ordestroyed, it is that human
connection, that humanresponsibility of our ancestors
and elders to pass down thosestories, those events, so they
stay alive.
Primary artifacts I also talkabout that.
Primary artifacts I also talkabout that.

(07:02):
Letters, photos, songs and evenpodcasts from the cultural
group themselves.
We love primary sources,especially when it comes to, you
know, factual things.
So when you are having yourprimary artifacts, it also ties
into the power of thatmulticultural story.

(07:24):
And again, another pro tip allright from this pro here rotate
between genres, you know.
Think about poetry, drama,graphic novels, short stories,
so every learner can find astyle that resonates with them.
You know we want them tocontinue reading, so mixing up
the genres really does help.

(07:46):
Now some really cool exercisesfor you.
I want you to spend 15 minutesthis week Browse your library or
your favorite independentbookstore and I want you to
identify one book by an ownvoices author.
Okay, I want you to jot downthree ways you could leverage it

(08:08):
across your reading, yourwriting and your social studies
lessons.
Pro tip if you can find it inyour science lesson, even better
.
And I want you to share whatyou found on Instagram and tag
me at culturallyjebe with theunderscore sign at the end.
I love spotlighting newdiscoveries and hopefully I can

(08:30):
reach out to that author to havethem be a guest on the show.
Now that we've talked about howto cultivate and find sources,
we've also talked about the keyfactors in multicultural
education.
I also want us to think aboutus as the teacher, as the
storyteller.
Yes, you, I'm going to put youmy dear in the storyteller's

(08:54):
seat.
Here's a really cool exerciseand it's titled my Name, my
Story.
You can use this exercisetomorrow or even in the first
six weeks, or even mid-semesterof your curriculum pacing guide.
Now I will show you how you canmodel, think, pair, share and

(09:16):
have a whole group reflection.
So, first thing is we're goingto model, so I'm going to be
your model, just as an example.
I'm going to be your model justas an example, so I'm going to
share who named me, what itmeans and a memory attached to

(09:37):
my name.
So then I will have my studentspair up for about three minutes
and I want them to also sharewho named them, what their name
means and a memory attached totheir name, and then I'm going
to have us do a whole groupreflection.
I'm going to ask the class whatsurprised you?
What connections did you find?
Okay, so let me model this foryou.

(09:57):
My name Jebe means lots of love.
It's in my family's Vi Liberiandialect.
My father named me after hisfavorite aunt, my great aunt,
who was chief jebe I-J of the Vipeople back home.

(10:18):
This name of mine is full oflove and my parents do love me
with all of their heart.
And another cool story about myname, of a memory that I don't
remember but my mother shared itwith me, was her memory.
We went back to the land thatmy namesake, chief Jebe, owned

(10:46):
and in our culture in Liberia wealways share people that have
passed on and are proud and hada really positive impact on
their lives.
We speak their names and mymother said I was a baby and she
said we were at Chief Jebe'sland and she passed on before I

(11:08):
was born and all people weretalking was Jebe, jebe, jebe,
and she said she looked at meand I took my first steps on
Chief Jebe's land and that wasso profound that I landed on my
mother's lap and they allstarted laughing and they had a

(11:30):
wonderful time.
And my mom always reminds me ofthat story.
I know, with my name meaninglove, I can also share love and
kindness with everybody I meet.
Next I'm going to have mystudents find a partner and I
also will remind them of whatthe rules are, because you know,

(11:54):
educators, when you pair upyour students, you always set
the norms and the expectations.
You know because sometimes whenthey pair up, they want to
catch up and say, ok, here's thetea from what happened at
recess, right, we're not goingto do that.
Or even with your high schoolstudents, you know they're going
to be telling you all the teaat that last dance that they had
, right.
So you're going to keep itshort and sweet to three minutes

(12:16):
and you're going to say youknow the first person in the
partner you are going to share,who named you, what it means and
a memory attached to your name,and so that person is going to
share those three things.
And remember to remind thelistener in the pair group to
just listen.

(12:36):
We're not going to offerfeedback, but we're just going
to listen first.
Listen, we're not going tooffer feedback, but we're just
going to listen first.
Then, when they're done sharing, then you're going to tell your
partner that shared.
Thank you for sharing.
All right, I noticed this aboutyour memories, or I noticed
this about your name meaning, or, oh, I like the meaning of your
name, just an example.

(12:57):
Then you're going to switch andthat partner that was listening
is going to share who namedthem, what it means and a memory
attached to their name.
Now, after you do this for aboutsix minutes total because we
want to give them well, let'sjust give them three minutes
because you know it could bereal quick we want to do a
really quick share because thenyou're going to get together as

(13:19):
a whole group and I'm going toask this question to my whole
class Okay, what surprised youand what connections did you
find?
Now, when I'm talking to myelementary students, they're
going to share what surprisedthem.
Oh, I didn't know.
Maxwell's name meantstrong-willed, and that's my
eldest son.
Oh, mateo's name, my youngestson, means gift from God,

(13:42):
interesting.
Are there other religiousconnections of other names or is
there something that also talksabout somebody's personality?
You know, what otherconnections can you find?
It's a wonderful discussion andyou can even go even further
and create a poster of yourstudent's name and what it means

(14:07):
.
So there's so many things thatyou can do Now.
If you need a handy-dandyworksheet for this activity,
download my name and narrativehandout, which is linked today
in today's show notes.
When you do this and you cometogether and catch on with

(14:28):
storytelling and storytellingunits, this is something that is
so profound.
I have a lesson bundle titledCinderella Stories from Around
the World, and this is somethingthat is a wonderful case
example of what you can use tokind of spark up multicultural
stories from all over the world.

(14:49):
It starts in fourth grade and,don't worry, I've got lots of
other storytelling lesson plansfor my primary ages, lesson
plans for my primary ages, andyou can look into those primary
grade level apples onjebedminscom.
There's lots and lots of lessonplans for you that will get you

(15:10):
started on your storytellingjourney.
I want you to weave instorytelling into every subject
area.
That is my challenge for you,and if you have any other
examples of a lesson plan thatyou have used in your
multicultural educationalcurriculum, please share that

(15:35):
with me in the comments.
I'm looking for some wonderfulideas as well to continue this
work Now when you are looking,for example, for multicultural
story lessons like I saidearlier, the Cinderella stories
from around the world.
Each lesson comes with handouts,even quizzes and reflection

(15:57):
questions, and it's really plugand play and ready to go.
And I know we are on our summervacay, but this is the time I
always call it our summerinstitute in our cadence of our
podcast series this year.
So get yourself brushed up andready to go.
These lesson plans aredownloadable instantly and you

(16:21):
will have all the resources andtools that you can have at your
disposal.
You can purchase them anytimeand again, get back to the beach
and get back to your rest andrestoration, because your girl,
jeb, will walk you through stepby step with what you need to do
.
And today, an extra bonus Ihave dropped the price on all of

(16:45):
my mini courses.
For example, who's in the room?
Normally it's $500.
It's down to less than $300.
And empowering your BIPOCstudents, which is again slashed
down for your summerinstitute-ready work as an
educator.
Let's recap our plan forcreating multicultural education

(17:10):
by harnessing the power ofstorytelling.
Choose authentic text, remember.
I want you to find those ownvoices by the authors themselves
and their lived experiences.
I want you to do the lesson andthe exercise of my name and my
story with your class.

(17:33):
Silent learner, you know,invite them to share.
They could share it on apost-it note.
They could share their favoritestorytelling moment.
It doesn't have to necessarilybe from their own identity, but
they could share it on a post-itnote.
I always used to do those exittickets with post-it notes and

(17:54):
that could be it.
You could just, you know, readan exit ticket, post it while
you're doing transitions toshare a student's response to
their favorite story or folktale.
If you want done-for-youguidance, slides, scripts and
activities and community support, remember to grab my courses.

(18:16):
Or you can go towwwjebehedmundscom and you will
see that first tab courses,where you can see all of the
full details and order your ownmini course, which is less than
two hours, like you could evenwork on this and still continue

(18:39):
with your day.
Thank you so much for joiningme on this journey into the
power of storytelling.
If you loved this episode,please leave a review, share it
with a colleague and tag me onsocial at culturallyjebba
underscore.
Keeping doing what you're doing, uplifting every learner's

(19:00):
voice, because their stories arethe curriculum.
See you next time on theCultural Curriculum Chat.