Storytelling in Childhood
My first lessons about society in general before I started school at age seven (to learn to read, count and write) were through stories told and shared around the fire place: they would be told with such intensity and humour, depending on the story line, you would not want to leave on your own to the next hut in the dark, lest the main character in the story pounces on you. The elders used this to reinforce acceptable values and created opportunities for asking questions, confirm suspicions, dispel assumptions.
These sessions were looked forward to with great anticipation for with story telling there was an "invitation into my world" which I am happy to share with you as a story teller. Often the storyteller was an older person with experience as a story teller. These were the best "education" sessions of my life. Do I think story telling has a place in the corporate world, most definitely! However story telling is an art and will require that we develop the skill to tell and listen to good stories!