storyfarm.canada INTRODUCTION

storyfarm.canada is a storytelling initiative that has been in development since 2007. The efficacy of storyfarm's approach was discovered during a literature review investigating mentoring, co-mentoring and distributed leadership. The storyfarm model was tested and proven in a two-year teacher education program from 2007 to 2009.

storyfarm.canada applies a theoretical approach drawing from cognitive science, cultural studies and design-based learning.

Our cognitive approach to cultural formation and learning is based on the theory of embodied minds. This theory connects our day to day experiences with the formation and re-formation of neural networks and cognition (what we think and how we feel about what we are thinking). 

Our cultural approach is based on the idea of social constructivism, that is, our social relationships are in continuous processes of forming and reforming in the context of the kinds of communicative experiences we share, the situations within which these communicative experiences occur, and the kinds of meanings associated with significant communicative experiences. We may make multiple meanings of any given social communicative experience, and these meanings are constructive of the kinds of social relationships we form and sustain over time. Our uses of language are not static, they are constantly evolving within our dynamic sociocultural practices of meaning making, even as our uses of language are also shaping our sociocultural practices.

Design-based learning refers to an inquiry-based approach to learning. We ask questions and conduct research to find out what we can learn about how these questions might be answered, depending on the sociocultural practices dominant in any given situation. We critically review what we have learned to broaden our perspective and deepen our understanding. We ask new questions and begin to formulate ideas for solving gaps, points of friction, and bottlenecks. We test these ideas and solutions and bring our results back for further inquiry, discussion and solution finding. Our learning is an iterative process wherein our experience, knowledge and skill acquisition continuously improve our imaginative capacity and our capability to act on those imaginings.