Education and Journalism have a lot in common.

by Stanley LearyPhotography

There are a lot of similarities between education and journalism. Just take the storyline and the learning curve, for example. Above is the storyline, and below is the typical learning curve.

I believe the connection between the two is people find themselves in crisis and looking for solutions. Education and a good story both have problems and answers given. How the main character responds in a story can be either a comedy or tragedy.

Storyteller & Educator

The storyteller and teacher must master their content before creating content for their audiences.

 

I have always liked this illustration for helping me to grasp how learning takes place. While working on my master’s in the education department, the school taught these stages.

I learned that when you teach if you don’t know what level your students are in and what class you are teaching, you will create a problem for the learning environment.

The storyteller and teacher must master the subject. Then, they must be able to go to the highest level of learning, which is a synthesis or the ability to create something new.

The storyteller and the teacher must be able to look at their audience and know how to lead them through the crisis to understand eventually.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 7200, ƒ/6.3, 1/250

Great teachers and storytellers have three things in common:

  1. Know their subject as an expert
  2. Know their audience
  3. Know their craft to connect the audience with the subject
If you are a teacher or storyteller and find yourself struggling, it is with one of these three things most often.
 
When I was in the education classes, I noticed we spent a lot of time learning about our audience. We learned educational psychology, which helped me learn how we know and what we can learn depending on the audience’s age.
 
In my communication classes, we worked on the craft of telling the story. Either we were learning how to write, use visuals, or design to help get across the message of the subject.
 
Both education and communications emphasized our need to know the subject well, but both education and communications classes were weak in one of the other two areas.
 
Recommendations
 
Teachers and storytellers, you both need to dedicate your life to learning more about all three of these areas. Your subject will evolve as well as the audience.
 
There are endless ways to engage your audience. It would help if you mixed things up, or your style can get in the form of learning or storytelling. You become predictable and boring.
 
Most of all, keep the passion and curiosity vibrant.