Christian Story And Our Stories: Narrative Pedagogy

We know that education is a complex process, even though it has evolved for centuries; it is a challenge to teach facts coming from cultural contexts alien to ours. An effective solution to help the easy understanding of topics with contexts unknown for the audience, such as theological truths, is the pedagogical narrative. In the feature article " The Christian Story and Our Stories: Narrative Pedagogy in Congregation Life" author Benjamin D. Espinoza (AGREGAR PLACE AND DATE OF PUBLICATION) explains the educational strategy of narrative pedagogy, its characteristics and creative ways to apply it effectively in religious and secular areas in our life. First, narrative pedagogy is an approach to teaching that involves life stories through creative

In this way, narrative pedagogy can act as a past-redeemer. Human beings tend to remember negative experiences more than positive ones. To improve one’s attitude, the Christian narrative pedagogy aims to connect biblical stories to negative past experiences. The Bible has a personal influence in different times and cultures because of its genre. Giving a new approach one can see the harmful experiences being focused on the learning from an event, in order to have a different meaning of past events, and changes opinions, contexts and feelings. So, to change one’s past is to change one’s present and

Music has notable advantages over writing to communicate ideas and feelings. It works actively with many senses and at the same time, it can motivate more to the spectator. In the Christian context, narrative pedagogy can involve music, using the worship to praise, and sharing the narrative between the musicians and the audience.

“The most applicable to Christian education ministry is teaching through narrative” (441). From a pedagogical point of view, narrative pedagogy should be applied depending on the audience. For example, showing a biblical truth to a child requires attractive elements for them like fables, poems, drawings, songs, or children's stories. To present the same biblical truth to adults requires different strategies like questions to reflect or analyzing a Bible verse.

In summary, narrative pedagogy connects the personal life with the topic to learn, and thus, it can develop the interest of the audience, both collectively and personally. “The possibilities of narrative pedagogy abound, and educators must use their imagination in order to create effective narrative pedagogies in their particular context” (442). Narrative pedagogy is a useful tool, that a Christian can use to fulfill God's plan to evangelize