Speaking From the Heart: Everyday Storytelling and Adult Learning

Abstract

This article relates the experiences o f the author, an adult educator who facilitatesworkshops in the area o f Indigenous women's healing and recovery. It demonstrateshow educators can make use o f everyday storytelling to engage workshop participantsin educational experiences about decolonization. The author looks at some of thepitfalls o f group discussion in an environment where people are either censured orencouraged to keep retelling/reliving their traumatic stories. She proposes thateveryday storytelling, when guided and done in the context o f colonial andprecolonial history, will assist Indigenous people to move forward in their healing.