| Abstract: | In the Filipino language, kuwento means “story,” but the concept itself encapsulates more than its literal meaning. Similar to talk story events in Hawaiian communities (Au &; Jordan, 1981 Au, K. and Jordan, C. 1981. “Teaching reading to Hawaiian children: Finding a culturally appropriate solution”. In Culture and bilingual classroom: Studies in classroom ethnography, Edited by: Trueba, H., Guthrie, B. P. and Au, K. H. 139–152. Rowley, MA: Newbury. Google Scholar]), kuwento serves as a tool to communicate everyday experiences within groups, especially among family and community members (Eugenio, 1981 Eugenio, D. L. 1981. Philippine folk literature: An anthology., Diliman, Quezon City: The University of the Philippines Folklorists. Google Scholar]). It is an abstraction of history, congealing experience into a chain of events. It is what Bakhtin (1981) Bakhtin, M. M. 1981. The dialogic imagination: Four essays by M. M. Bakhtin., Austin: University of Texas Press. Google Scholar] would call a unique speech experience—one that is shaped and developed in continuous and constant interaction with others. Kuwento is largely influenced by other people's words and ideas that eventually become incorporated into one's own. Like story and storytelling, kuwento takes many forms and can be used in the classroom during sharing time to construct and activate newer understandings (Cazden, 1994 Cazden, C. B. 1994. “What is sharing time for?”. In The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community, Edited by: Dyson, A. H. and Genishi, C. 72–79. Urbana, IL: NCTE. Google Scholar]; Michaels, 1981 Michaels, S. 1981. “Sharing time”: Children's narrative styles and differential access to literacy. Language in Society., 10: 423–442. Crossref], Web of Science ®] , Google Scholar]). In the case of paucity in classroom material, the teacher can engage students to learn through her/his own writing (Vascellaro &; Genishi, 1994 Vascellaro, S. and Genishi, C. 1994. “All things that mattered”: Stories written by teachers for children”. In The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community, Edited by: Dyson, A. H. and Genishi, C. 172–198. Urbana, IL: NCTE. Google Scholar]) and her/his own construction of oral stories in different participant structures (Phillips, 1972 Phillips, S. 1972. “Participant structures and communicative competence: Warm Springs children in community and classroom”. In Functions of language in the classroom, Edited by: Cazden, C., John, V. and Hymes, D. 370–394. New York: Teachers College Press. Google Scholar]). As we shall see in the case of Filipino Heritage Studies, the teacher's use of reflective- and real-time stories conveys the importance of history and present-day realities both in his and his students' lives. Although kuwento is also present in other participant structures, this article focuses on the teacher's whole-class lecture during a unit on the Philippine American War. |
