74 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Sadtong Panahon: Oral Storytelling Training Course for Pre-Service Teachers MARIGRACE D. CARRETERO http://orcid.org 000-0003-4597-854x graciaflordes@gmail.com Sorsogon State College Sorsogon, Philippines JACKIELYNE M. BOSQUILLOS http://orcid.org 0000-002-0861-8273 nichola120583@gmail.com Sorsogon State College Sorsogon, Philippines JHONNER D. RICAFORT http://orcid.org 0000-0603-0483-1752 ricafortjhonner@gmail.com Sorsogon State College Sorsogon, Philippines ABSTRACT Storytelling is an art that contributes not only to students’ academic success, but also to their emotional well-being. However, not many teachers have skills in storytelling. The reason maybe that they have not been trained in the art, or they lack knowledge of it. The study identified the different reactions of the students during storytelling sessions as observed by the students themselves and the teachers. The study is both quantitative and qualitative in nature. It made use of a descriptive developmental research design. The respondents were 60 students and 60 teachers. Survey questionnaires were used to gather data. Unstructured interviews were also conducted to validate their answers. Results showed that most Vol. 24 · March 2016 Print ISSN 2012-3981 • Online ISSN 2244-0445 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7719/jpair.v24i1.380 Journal Impact: H Index = 2 from Publish or Perish JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research is produced by PAIR, an ISO 9001:2008 QMS certified by AJA Registrars, Inc. 75 International Peer Reviewed Journal of the students are bored and do not engage themselves during the storytelling session. This may be attributed to poor skills in forming connections and poor communication skills of the teachers. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that teachers’ way of telling a story affects the students’ understanding and interest in the story.However, this skill is lacking in most teachers. Varied problems related to these skills are met by the teachers. The researchers recommend that teachers need to improve their communication skills to become effective storytellersand a storytelling training course should be designed and implemented to train pre- service teachers and enhance their storytelling skills. Keywords — Oral Storytelling, Sadtong panahon, Oral storytelling training course, descriptive developmental research design, Sorsogon, Philippines INTRODUCTION As humans progressed from generation to generation, it slowly made up more complex cultures. Their speech faculty and creative imagination made it possible for them to build stories that entertain or narrate everyday life occurrences even those that are imagined. Through stories, they found out that they could influence other people to do their bidding, either good or bad. They could become the dominant group simply by storytelling. Fright could be created by their storytelling. Likewise, they inspired their subordinates through their stories and implemented good governance. These people have come out of our storytellers, the most influential and powerful people in the world. Hence, the power of storytelling is indeed undeniable. Even our great grandparents were master storytellers. They have brought to the world this art and motivated generations to learn through it. Discussions of storytelling types, (mythical, personal, and sacred), storytelling as strategies for learning about life, storytelling as knowing and putting back to memory experiences, and relating stories about spirituality from which strength can be drawn are what elders’ stories narrate (Iseke, 2013). Educators have long known that arts can contribute to student academic success and emotional well-being. Storytelling as an art does this as much as painting, drawing, sculpture and the like. Storytelling or story arts have long been part of the folk art. Telling stories face-to-face with an audience as a live performance can be regarded as one of the oldest forms of oral art (Lwin, 2010, p. 357). From the community, it has come to the classrooms. However, not many teachers have the skills in story telling simply because they have not been trained in the art or they lack knowledge about it as an art. 76 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Curricula for teacher education do not include this as a separate subject, but rather as an integrated part of the reading or literature class. As a result, many graduates of teacher education programs as they take on actual teaching do not do well in storytelling with the big book or storytelling materials they have at hand. Storytelling must be included in the curriculum for English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language (Atta-Alla, 2012). As observed in the classrooms, many pupils either find story time boring or find their teachers simply barking at print without the skill to stimulate or motivate them to listen and anticipate events in the piece they are presented with. Moreover, if stories are the way information are stored in our brain, teachers need to let children become more motivated to listen enthusiastically to them as they tell stories. Furthermore, they, as listeners meet language patterns that are new through stories. They learn new words or new contexts for already familiar words. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (2011), those who often hear stories begin to get used to narrative patterns, hence, they learn the skill to predict. Then, they make use of those patterns in speaking and in writing as well. Learners who often tell stories become aware of how those who listen affect the storytelling. They carry that into their writing. However, simply telling the story is not what works well. The art of telling it, the skill of bringing life into its characters, and the manner by which the storyteller take the listeners to the context or setting are most important. As observed, few teachers possess these skills, and not everyone has the awareness of the elements involved in the big process of storytelling. In an informal interview made by the proponent with pre-service teachers, they observed in their off- campus training that some in-service teachers cannot sustain the interest of students in listening to stories being read to them. Few would deny that storytelling has an important role within speaking and listening, and in this context, professional storytellers may continue to enjoy the demand for the services in the school. However, if storytelling is to achieve its potential as both a model of talk and a means of engaging children with narrative, then it cannot be regarded simply as the preserve of the specialist teller of tales. Those who work in schools each day need to recognize that they are themselves, storytellers, and that they have at their command a potent tool for classroom teaching (Fulton, 2012, p. 48.) In a study made by Magno (2014) on teaching practices, it was found out that lack of training of teachers on new trends on teaching strategies and methodologies affect the learning of students. Hence, he created a training design for teachers. Hence, these pre-service teachers would have wanted to 77 International Peer Reviewed Journal attend storytelling training since they saw the need for it. The proponent also interviewed in –service teachers in the Sorsogon City West District during the seminar workshop she gave on storytelling in the district and responses were the same as those given by the pre-service teachers. Likewise, in the MTB-MLE program of the government is of great concern. The need therefore for stories in the mother tongue which could enhance language learning is essential. Since storytelling does not take a major part as a separate/ distinct subject in any of the teacher education programs in our country, the researchers would like to propose that it be made a specialized training course in the teacher education program of the BEED; BSED major in English and Filipino particularly in the Sorsogon State College. The curriculum of the Teacher Education of the Sorsogon State College has courses such as The Teaching of Reading and The Teaching of Literature yet no portion in the syllabi focuses on storytelling appreciation and principles. Hence, storytelling can be proposed as a separate specialization training course in the said curriculum. The proponents will make a needs analysis of Fourth year BEED, BSED English and Filipino Majors pre-service teachers and DepEd in-service teachers to find out the skills they need in storytelling so as the alignment of topics in the proposed subject may be done. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The study aimed to identify students’ reactions during storytelling. It also looked into the characteristics of the teacher-storytellers as perceived by students and teachers. Likewise, it identified the benefits of the storytelling course and the different skills needed by the pre-service teachers to become effective storytellers. Problems encountered during the storytelling sessions are likewise determined. Based on the findings, the study proposed a storytelling course for pre-service teachers of Sorsogon State College. 78 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research FRAMEWORK Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study It is built on Bruner’s theory of learning which looks into meaning making. Children develop an interpretation, an understanding and a connection with the world and the environment they are in through stories they listen. Hence, they learn about themselves and about their cultures and that of others (Bruner, 1996). Another is the theory of motivation by Skinner which states that when learners are highly motivated, they are able to learn (Skinner, 1976). When students are well motivated in listening to stories, they become better learners. The conceptual framework shows the concept of the study. Storytelling will be integrated as a proposed subject or training course for third-year pre-service teachers to enhance their skills in storytelling. To know what particular skills/ competencies are needed to be enhanced and the topics that are to be taken up in the course, a needs analysis to in-service and pre-service teachers will be conducted. Based on the needs analysis, the storytelling training course will be designed. It then will be implemented so that it can be tried on pre-service BSED English and Filipino majors and BEED third-year students. The fourth box is placed above the third box to show that implementation is the most important phase. This is because this is where the whole training course will be tested as to its strength and effectiveness. The evaluation is in the last box just beside implementation. This phase is also of utmost importance because it is essential 79 International Peer Reviewed Journal for a curriculum/ course to be assessed on its effectiveness and acceptability. It can be noted that the two last phases were included in the framework since the research design is developmental which means that upon evaluation, whatever improvements may be necessary, the course design may be revised. METHODOLOGY The study is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. It made use of a descriptive developmental research design since it focused on the curriculum. This was used to determine the needed skills in storytelling of teacher education students of the Sorsogon State College and the topics to be included for the proposed development of a storytelling curriculum. The respondents of the study were the in-service elementary and secondary teachers of the Department of Education of Sorsogon West District, namely,Pamurayan Integrated school, Rizal Integrated National High School, Guinlajon Elementary School and Guinlajon National High School and the pre- service teachers (PT students) of Sorsogon State College taking up Bachelor of Elementary Education and Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English and Filipino. A total of 120 constituted the respondents. Purposive random sampling was employed to identify the 120 respondents. The researchers conducted first a survey whether the teachers are using storytelling in their class or not. As for the students, we also conducted a survey whether their teachers are using storytelling in class. From that, we identified the respondents. The researcher sought permission from the Dean of Sorsogon State College, Education Department and the Schools Division Superintendent in Sorsogon City to facilitate the conduct of the study. To gain access and full cooperation of the respondents, the researcher secured consent from the school heads. The study used a self-administered questionnaire as its main instrument. It was submitted to experts to ensure validity prior to the actual administration. The researcher personally distributed the questionnaire to the respondents on July 7, 2015 and retrieved it on July 20, 2015. The researchers also conducted unstructured interview to validate the respondents’ answers in the survey. The responses given by the respondents were treated with utmost confidentiality. Appropriate statistical measures were employed to quantify the data that were collated to answer the problems of the research study. Frequency count was used to find out the topics and skills/competencies to be included in the proposed training program. Percentage was also used in the study. 80 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 1. Students’ and teachers’ reactions when teachers tell stories as observed by themselves Indicators StudentsF % Teachers F % 1. I/They am/are bored. 50 83.33 15 25.00 2. I/They listen but do not pay close attention to details 25 41.67 31 51.67 3. I/They join in enthusiastically. 16 26.67 17 28.33 4. I/They do other things than listen. 47 78.33 36 60.00 5. I/They listen and pay close attention to the details of the story 22 36.67 23 38.33 The result shows that the students do not show interest in their teacher’s story. These findings may be partly attributed to the way teachers relate the story to the students. These further imply that teachers must have the skills of a good storyteller. Style and techniques go hand in hand to ensure that what is related to learners can be more than interesting to them. Animated teachers are the best storytellers. Also, reasons for these could be poor skills of the teachers in delivering the story, improper gesture, posture, etc., lack of ingenuity of teachers and/or the story itself is not interesting. Story telling is an art, different skills should be present for it to be effective. Teacher must know how to select good stories. For learning it to be effective, the materials must be meaningful for the students. Students may find it boring to listen to their teachers’ story for the reason that they cannot connect with the story or they find it irrelevant. Teachers must bear in mind that students enjoy hearing stories that have humor, surprise, suspense, interesting characters and clean sharp dialogue. However, stories must be relevant to students’ interests and context and must be a key part of the lesson and not just a time-filler. While students listen to stories, they also relate to them and eventually learn the lessons much better. Yazzie-Mintz (2007) conducted High School Survey of Student Engagement to document, describe, and monitor student engagement in secondary schools nationally. Results showed that 75% of students surveyed said they were bored in class because of uninteresting material and 39% stated that the material had 81 International Peer Reviewed Journal no relevance to them. It was also found out that activities in which students learn with and from peers are the most exciting and engaging, including classroom discussions and debates. Thus, it challenges teachers to make necessary adjustment in the implementation of the curriculum particularly along the teaching strategies to motivate students in the class. Effective skills of teachers in storytelling are indeed essential for better learning of the students. Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer and Lowrance(2004), revealed in their study that the group who heard the stories told gained much comprehension and retold the stories. Teachers need to understand that through their way of relating stories, students are able to conceptualize things and are able to follow through. Table 2. Characteristics of teachers-storytellers Indicators Students F % Teachers F % 1.  Animated voice and face 10 16.67 35 58.33 2.  Exhibit flat, dull tone 33 55 44 73.33 3.  Engaging and draws listeners into the story. 5 8.33 42 70.00 4.  Lacks connection to the listener. 48 80.00 52 86.67 5.  Has good command of the language used. 18 30.00 30 50.00 6. Has poor diction and pronunciation. 4 6.67 26 43.33 This suggests that failing to establish connection to the listeners may be due to having a flat and dull tone during the storytelling lesson. This means that teachers can motivate students to listen by putting life to the story and with proper modulation of voice. Without the appropriate expression and intonation, no teacher can better tell stories to learners. Variation in tone and expression are a must for teachers. Hamilton and Weiss (2005) stated that stories go straight to the heart. The Iris poet and philosopher James Stephen wrote, “The head does not hear anything until the heart has listened. The heart knows today what head will understand tomorrow”. It was emphasized that since students and teachers are emotionally involved and enjoy storytelling, this may facilitate the development of positive attitude towards the learning process. As for teachers’ assessment of themselves as storytellers, majority or 52 or 86.67 % of them believes that they lack connection to their listeners when telling stories. Connection to listeners is manifested through verbal and nonverbal cues 82 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research such as maintaining eye contacts, showing gestures and correct posture while telling stories. Followed by 44 or 73.33 % think that they exhibit flat and dull tone while telling stories. This explains while most of the students are bored when their teachers tell stories. An average number of the teacher respondents (30 or 50%) think they possess good command of language used. Results show that though teacher respondents have good command of language, it is not enough to motivate their students to listen. Result implies that there is a need to train teachers in storytelling since most of them lack skills in delivering stories. Teachers need to possess qualities that learners have to imbibe such as when storytelling they have to establish eye contact, they must not be easily distracted, does not mumble,and must have a diverse voice tone, range, pitch etc. Also, teachers need to be animated and enthusiastic when telling stories since teachers’ enthusiasm to a story is infectious. This was stressed by Daniel (2007) that a teacher should motivate the students, put forth questions or deliver answers. In order not to turn the lesson to preach, a teacher should avoid putting certain borders in students’ minds; also he/she should remember that entertainment is necessary to keep telling the story (Spaulding, 2011). Wright (1997) also emphasized that stories have enormous vocabulary and give students the opportunity to gain a productive language experience. Furthermore, when children are given the chance to create and tell a story in a foreign language, they assume ownership of the story and the language. Table 3. Benefits of a storytelling course Indicators Students F % Teacher F % 1. It is an excellent means of motivation 55 91.67 60 100 2. It is a good source of language 48 80.00 46 76.67 3. Pupils love listening to stories in / English/Filipino/Mother tongue 46 76.67 40 66.67 4. It is a good starting point for various activities 39 65.00 43 71.67 5. It creates a relaxed, safe atmosphere 37 61.67 40 66.67 Storytelling is an excellent means of motivation having the highest frequency implies that teachers can capture the interest of the students in the lesson by engaging them in storytelling activities. Hamilton and Weiss (2005) further 83 International Peer Reviewed Journal highlight that storytelling is motivating and the students acknowledge it to be an authentic activity and a skill that is worth-acquiring. As for the teachers,the findings imply that storytelling as a classroom activity is indeed enticing and that it should be a necessary part of the learners’ learning environment. Poliden (2012) suggests that giving students varied activities that are interesting will surely develop crical thinking skills. Hence, storytelling is a means of enticing students to learn. As pointed out in the Storytelling Arts of Indiana, hearing stories stimulates students imagination, improves listening skills, instills a love of language, reading, and creative writing, improves language skills, such as vocabulary, comprehension, sequencing, and story recalls and builds community by providing a common experience and collective language of story catch words and phrase. As cited by Bala (2015), storytelling has many advantages for social and emotional development. She further mentioned that the storyteller and the listener construct a strong, relaxed and happy relationship during a story time. Storytelling encourages the learners to continue acquiring the language because it affects the students positively due to the entertainment and motivating role of storytelling. It also offers the students to work out their imagination by getting involved into the stories or identifying themselves as one of the character in the story. Skills needed by the pre-service teachers to become effective storytellers The student-respondents identified the skills needed by the pre-service teachers to enhance and become effective storytellers, namely, communication skills, voice projection, pronunciation, intonation, diction, voice modulation, connection to listeners, eye contact, acting skills, creativity in storytelling, and variation in speaking. As stressed by Dujmovic (2006), storytelling is an art of narration which is told through the memory than through reading. Furthermore, he added that a storyteller becomes successful in the art when he selects adequate stories and performs well in retelling it. This is because the delivery is the crucial matter and preparation and practice are essential. Moreover, new words and new language experience are of equal importance. Once these are not considered, boredom, noise, and problems occur in class. It was likewise concluded by Ying- Li (2010) that during sessions on storytelling, active learning of vocabulary, judging and motivation lead students to become more purposive in learning. Meanwhile, 42 out of 60 student respondents said that teachers should be trained in storytelling. Among the top six reasons why teachers should be 84 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research trained in storytelling are to: 1) develop skills in delivering stories such as diction, pronunciation, enunciation, 2) develop mastery in getting the attention of the students to listen and participate during storytelling session, 3) equip with the different strategies and techniques in storytelling, 4) train the teachers in making their voice animated, 5) develop creativity in executing storytelling, and 6) know the do’s and don’ts of storytelling. Majority of the respondents also emphasized that there is no existing storytelling subject in the school while all of them suggested having a separate subject on storytelling. This implies that teachers recognize the significance of developing effective skills in storytelling to engage students actively in the lesson for meaningful learning. It further implies that without proper training in the art of storytelling, this class activity may not be properly conducted as well. These findings show parallel to the results of the study conducted by Mottley and Telfer (1996) on the needs of prospective teachers to be prepared to use storytelling strategy in teaching. It was stressed that the greatest areas of need of the prospective teachers to implement the strategy in the classroom were: choosing appropriate stories, how to tell effectively a story, and the purpose of storytelling. The researchers asserted that storytelling should be integrated into the teacher-education program. Although teachers have materials to read, they need to look more into their attributes as storytellers and seek for appropriate means to enhance them. No teacher can be better equipped but by relevant training alone. Problems encountered during story telling sessions with regards to classroom management/setting The different problems that teachers encountered during story telling sessions were: 1) getting and maintaining the attention of their students, 2) some pupils do not understand the story itself, 3) some students do other things than listen, 4) at times that the teacher’s story is somewhat related to their lives, they tend to be noisy and too emotional, and 5) delivering the story in an interesting way. This only shows that teachers acknowledged the fact that they lack skills in storytelling. Getting and maintaining the attention of the students is a skill that a teacher should master not just during story telling session but in the entire teaching and learning process (Principles of teaching).These findings imply that teachers encounter varied problems as regards students’ assimilating the stories they listen to. These further suggest that teachers must be skillful enough to sustain students’ interest and understanding. The teachers’ skills must be enhanced to address the needs. 85 International Peer Reviewed Journal Meanwhile, 96.67 % said that story telling can be done in all subject areas while two or 3.33% said storytelling is only applicable to some subject areas and not to all. Most teachers believed that storytelling is a good strategy in getting the attention of the students. This may also serve as a strong source of motivation or ice breaker in class. Storytelling breaks the monotony of the learning process. However, this depends on the capacity of the teacher to deliver good stories. During story telling session, some students also share some of their experiences in life. With this, teachers form connections with his students. This is a good way of getting to know his students better. Higher order thinking skills of the students are also developed especially if the concepts are contextualized in the story. Also, the stories presented by the teachers make learning more meaningful and realistic. The characters in the story may serve as an inspiration to the students. The result is consistent with literature storytelling: process and practice by Livo (1986). Among the different benefits of storytelling that he presented are stories evoke powerful emotional responses that can fuel the desire to change, stories can serve as stress reliever and stories gives lifelong lesson and help develop new insights. On the other hand, two of the respondents think that storytelling is only applicable to language subjects but not in other subjects like Math and Science. Also, they believe that it will just consume time that should be spent in discussing more important matters. This was opposed by the literature storytelling across the curriculum. Further it says, although language arts seem a likely home for the art of storytelling: however, storytelling techniques and process can support exploration in many other curriculum areas. For instance, in Storytelling in Science is the story of creation, world myth and legends of the sea and creatures, etc. In mathematics, students may be interested to hear the story of great mathematicians and the history of the development of a particular equation. As language can be used across the curriculum, storytelling can likewise be done across disciplines. In an interview done with in–service teachers, about whether to offer a storytelling course for Education, 52 answered Yes with reasons such asto learn and understand the art of storytelling, to improve their skills in storytelling, to learn more techniques/strategies in storytelling, to develop engagement in the craft storytelling, to become better story tellers and teachers should develop engagement to the craft. Furthermore,40 said it should be offered to lower years so that the skills they will learn can be applied when they reach higher years while 20 said it should be on the 3rd year in preparation for Practice Teaching. Meanwhile, forty-eight (48) teachers stated that there is a need to develop skills such as: good command of language, acting skills, diction and pronunciation, 86 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research creativity in making and using props, voice projection, facial expression, ability to organize thoughts, theatrical skills and the ability to relate the story to topics being discussed. All these imply that teachers are aware of the importance of storytelling in learning and that training on this area is a necessity. This is supported by Alison(2013) stating that storytelling training course will be of great interest to teachers and trainers who want to learn more about the effectiveness of storytelling as a tool that can enhance learning  within the classroom. The teachers see the significance of a storytelling course for pre-service teachers so that they would be trained on the identified skills which have been seen by the in- service teachers as needing enhancement and honing. Further, he stated that for children to enjoy theatre, they must see a story played out physically. Storytellers must be taught to act using a simplified version of the Stanislavski System that puts emphasis on playable action. He also provides a guide to teaching theater for youth based on a class of the author’s design where students developed curriculum, managed classes of students, and executed lessons that emphasized the importance of physicality in acting. Proposed Training Course for BEED and BSED Filipino and English The use of storytelling in various disciplines has been proven effective in stimulating students’ critical thinking skills, encouraging self-review and conveying practice realities. Storytelling is an art that contributes not only to students’ academic success, but also to their emotional well-being. It is deemed significant as an excellent source of motivation, an avenue for self-expression and as a learning tool. However, not many teachers have the necessary skills in storytelling. This can be attributed to the fact that they have not been formally introduced to the art and they lack training to further enhance their skills in storytelling. These lead the researchers to design a training course in storytelling for future educators to prepare them in integrating storytelling in their teaching task. The storytelling course has been evaluated by teachers who are considered as prospective users along the different aspects and its acceptability. The result showed that 100% of the respondents affirmed that the proposed learning strategies are practical and reasonable, the course objectives are clearly stated, the topics support the objectives, arranged from the simplest to complex and address the needs of the teacher trainees. Some 82.23% agreed that the time allotment given for each topic is sufficient for learning while 94.12% affirmed that the materials are accessible and up-to-date. 87 International Peer Reviewed Journal This shows that the proposed curriculum strongly reflects validity and is designed to meet the needs of the trainees. This also implies that the proposed curriculum is generally acceptable to the end-users. The respondents recommend that teachers must be taught storytelling skills because if they do not have the skill, they will simply end up reading rather than storytelling. Children must learn the difference between reading and storytelling. The respondents likewise commented that the proposed training course for BEED and BSED Filipino and English is good and commendable. TRAINING COURSE IN STORYTELLING Degree Name: Bachelor of Elementary Education Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English and Filipino I. Course Description This course will examine the various uses and applications of the art and process of telling stories. It looks into understanding story development and the use of the entire telling and writing processes in learning. Students will write, practice, and perform the genre of stories and storytelling. Skills in oral storytelling are also dealt in. II. Content Outline Topics No. of Hours 1 Introduction Rationale Importance of storytelling 3 2 Storytelling Influences 2 3 Storytelling Developments What is storytelling, why are stories told? Learning from experience, bringing about change to practice 4 4 Storytelling as a Theory of Learning Positioning storytelling, Stages of learning, Reflective learning through storytelling, how stories are told, storytelling pathway, 4 88 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research 5 Finding stories Creating a storytelling culture, storytelling activities, charting distance, designing storytelling activities, 4 6 Telling stories about practice Storytelling, learning through listening, learning through telling, expanding stories, learning to write exemplars as assignments 3 7 Expanding Stories through reflection Exploring reflection, reflection in practice, the reflective process and storytelling, meta- analysis of reflection 4 8 Processing Practice Stories Shaping stories, sharing stories, individual work with stories, spontaneous drawing, 5 9 Reconstructing stories within a group setting socio-cultural framework for storytelling, learning through storytelling, a formal group- storytelling process, steps in group storytelling 3 10 Ethical and Assessment Considerations Ethical issues related to storytelling, projection, confidentiality and anonymity, primary ownership of stories, presentation of personal or sensitive information, presentation of practice dilemmas, assessment and learning, formative and summative assessment feedback, assessment opportunities 5 11 Reflections Listening to cautionary tales, different journeys and point of convergence, embracing storytelling, storytelling as theory of learning 2 12 Communication and storytelling skills Animated theatrical skills, digital storytelling 8 TOTAL: 50 • Learning Strategies 1. Written and oral presentations 2. Small Group discussions 3. Theatrics 89 International Peer Reviewed Journal • Resources Needed Projector Laptop Puppets Sketching pads Art materials Listening texts CONCLUSIONS Most of the students are bored during the storytelling sessions. Teachers observed that their students do other things than listen. Also, some teachers lack necessary communication skills to become effective storytellers. Students perceived that their teachers lack connection with the listeners when telling stories. Teachers also believe that they find it hard to connect with their listeners. Storytelling is a good source of motivation and language. The way a teacher tells a story affects the students’ understanding and interest in the story. Also, stories that are told lack relevance to the students’ interests and context and must be a key part of the lesson. Lastly, there is no story telling course in the Education program of tertiary schools which can enhance skills and train pre-service teachers in the art of storytelling. Hence, a storytelling training course is designed and implemented to train pre-service teachers and enhance their storytelling skills. TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH The findings of the study can be translated into a curriculum for pre-service teachers that would develop or enhance their storytelling skills. The proposed curriculum could be evaluated and critiqued for its relevance and needs appropriateness by the Academic Council and the Board of Trustees of the Sorsogon State College, Philippines and may be adopted by other institutions in the country. LITERATURE CITED Alison, B. T. (2013). Teaching and Performing Theatre for Youth Using Physical Storytelling. 90 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Atta-Alla, (2012). Integrating language skills through storytelling. 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(2005).  Children tell stories: Teaching and using storytelling in the classroom. Richard C Owen Pub. Isbell, R., Sobol, J., Lindauer, L., &Lowrance, A. (2004). The effects of storytelling and story reading on the oral language complexity and story comprehension of young children. Early childhood education journal, 32(3), 157-163. Iseke, J. (2013). Indigenous storytelling as research.  International Review of Qualitative Research, 6(4), 559-577. Li, C. Y., &Seedhouse, P. (2010). Classroom interaction in story-based lessons with young learners. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly June 2010 Volume 12, Issue 2, 288. 91 International Peer Reviewed Journal Livo, N. J., &Rietz, S. A. (1986). Storytelling: Process and practice. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. Lwin, S.N. (2010). Capturing the dynamics of narrative development in an oral storytelling performance: A multi modal perspective. UK:Sage Publication. Magno, J. (2014). Teaching Practices of Mathematics Teachers in Selected Public and Private Elementary Schools. JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Vol 17, No 1. Retrieved from http://philair.ph/publication/index.php on May 28, 2016. Mottley, R., &Telfer, R. (1997). Storytelling to promote emergent literacy: Prospective teachers’ storytelling experiences and expectations. InYearbook of the American Reading Forum (Vol. 17, pp. 127-149). Poliden, S.(2012). Teaching Practices Promoting Communication Opportunities in the Language Class.JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research.Vol.9, No.1. Retrieved from http://philair.ph/ publication /index.php on May 28, 2016. Skinner, B.F. (1976). About Behaviorism. New York: Random House Inc. Wright, A. (1997). Creating stories with children. Oxford University Press. Yazzie-Mintz, E. (2007). Voices of Students on Engagement: A Report on the 2006 High School Survey of Student Engagement. Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Indiana University.