From the Director of Pedagogy and Innovation

The Power of Story Telling 

Over the break, like many people I took some time to read books that I cannot squeeze into term time. 

The Riders, by Tim Winton, is a broody and dark story about the challenges that families can face and while it was a tough read at points, it was a well-timed reminder of the power of storytelling.  

With so much hype around AI and the future of creative writing, this novel spoke into the humanness of storytelling and the way it can help personalise, connect and share experiences. Some people may know the feeling of having a story inside them bursting to come out and the mounting frustration of it remaining untold. Likewise, many of us have no doubt sat at a family gathering or on public transport and listened to another tell a story. This is often relevant and pertinent to the storyteller, but does not resonate with us. We listen generously however, as we realise that storytelling is a human need and to stop someone form sharing in this way could be rude or brusque. 

While AI may be able to write stories, it does not hold the capacity to feel and be changed by sharing and demonstrating empathy. The stories we tell are dynamic and linked to a moment in time. AI does not experience time so these moments get stitched together in a uniquely human way. Regardless of how good the technology becomes, it will never replace the joy, satisfaction or experience of storytelling. 

Mr Chris Sanders

Director of Pedagogy and Innovation