WE TELL STORIES . . . AS HUMAN BEINGS, SPIRITUAL BEINGS, MEANING-MAKING BEINGS . . . WE TELL STORIES.

Where do these stories come from?  From the biblical narratives, of course. But also from books, videos, films, newspapers, magazines, YouTube, Twitter, sacred literature, short stories, plays, poetry, and talk across backyards, or in the grocery checkout lane. Stories occur in any medium that includes the issues or polarities alive in the classrooms of our lives. They have the power to reach down inside and crack open the tight places. Stories are the way, in, down, around, that let us see the patterns that are in all people.

The Educational Center’s issue-centered method of education recognizes that stories reflect our lives and awaken universal patterns that enliven and inform our choices. Whether they are historical or mythical, biblical or personal, fictional or biographical, stories invite the imagination and the symbolic.

It is a pedagogy that honors the inner pull between opposing needs or values. For example: “I want to let go and yet, at the same time, I want to hold on.” This simple statement captures a universal dynamic, one that all people will experience in their lives. Issue-centered education offers structure that embraces a “both/and” perspective rather than reducing the value and complexity of each alternative to an “either/or” posture. It leads one to the awareness of responsibility and possibility.

The bridge between the individual’s experience and the wisdom of stories is built with questions. In the teaching tradition of Socrates and Jesus, The Educational Center’s publications assist the birth of knowing, provide context and support, and pose questions that lead to ever-deepening explorations.We are all storytellers, we all have a story to tell and The Educational Center publications/resources can help you tell yours.