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Eledford and epeck's comments this week really resounded with me and I would like to explore this topic a bit further.  When instructors allow children to feel that they have a voice in the classroom and that they already know something about a given topic, they are empowering those children to further explore what they do and do not already know; they encourage critical thinking from a very young age.  (Note that I would define a successful education in terms of a child being engaged in the world around them, asking questions, and seeking answers.  Over time, they develop their inquisitive sense and begin to form opinions about the world, other people, information that they hear, etc, based on their ability to critically assess whether they agree or disagree with a piece of information.  This child--now an adult-- embodies an individual all their own with specific moral and social opinions.  As a result of their ability to analyze information that was reinforced at a young age, they are able to contribute their unique ideas and beliefs to society to help others to see/learn information in a new light.)  The critical thinking that I did as a child was through hearing stories, whether they be from my parents' or grandparents' mouths or from a book.  Stories and storytelling were a powerful tool in my education and I believe that they are underutilized because it's an informal way of learning information.  Even though storytelling has been around for centuries, it's a bit too touchy feely for the rigors of academia today.  I would argue that storytelling in the classroom could be correlated to better student interaction, discussion, and comprehension of material.  As an example, for the last two weeks in class, we broke into small groups to address a question that was posed to us.  In both of my groups, we told stories of our own education and beliefs as they related to the question.  Stories enable human beings to relate to each other through an emotional connection that is built between the teller and the person listening.  After the teller is finished, the listener likely feels that they were actually there for the experiences that the teller was describing.  They too would be able to tell the story to another person now. In this way, knowledge and learning are accelerated through the passage of information through the medium of stories. Although the story is latent with the teller's bias, the person listening is able to assess what resounds with them and what does not and why. Because storytelling as a much an art as a science, practice is required and should be encouraged in schools from a young age.  Children are full of stories and observations.  They need to learn by practicing how to form an opinion and how to express themselves to their teachers and classmates.  Respecting their voices through listening and giving value to their stories will build the foundation for these children to become adults who are able to express themselves clearly and succinctly to convey information as well as to critically assess other information that they encounter in the world.