People & Stories / Gente y Cuentos offers reading and discussion programs in English and in Spanish with small groups of people, adults and adolescents, who have rarely participated in discussions of literary works. Some participants have little formal education and often come from backgrounds of poverty. The assumption underlying the program is that life experience makes everyone, whether educated or not, apt to grapple with imaginative and often complex narratives of fictional texts, to respond to them, to enjoy them.

The short stories chosen for discussions are brief enough to be read aloud and discussed in weekly sessions of an hour and a half. The multivocal texture of these texts encourages a variety of points of view and develops the critical ability of participants who are new to this kind of experience; their poetic power sparks the imagination resulting in unexpected pleasures tied to reading. Trained coordinators help to develop a discussion which becomes the hinge that brings literary stories and life experience to interact. People who have been excluded from certain literary expressions of our culture become welcome, active participants in a world that is usually reserved for the privileged. The dialogues that take place among the members of these new groups sharpen critical abilities, increase self assurance and inner strength, create a new respect for one’s personal voice, develop the ability to listen to others and to tolerate different opinions.

The program brings enjoyment, motivates participants to read literature, and moreover develops attitudes of critical tolerance that can help citizens to function well in a multicultural civil society. It is presented in English or in Spanish and always consists of the coordinator's oral reading of the story followed by a dialogue. The oral reading cuts across the various reading levels in the group, creates an atmosphere of shared experience, and invites those whose skills levels would prevent an independent reading of the text to become immersed in its intoned poetic and dramatic rhythms. The structured dialogues that follow bring forth participants’ inherent abilities to tackle topics usually reserved for the college classroom, such as moving beyond stereotypes, communicating across racial and cultural differences, and refining critical and analytical thinking skills.

Because the chosen stories are complex in the way life is complex, coming to know and appreciate these texts can lead to the perception of wider and, therefore, more liberating choices. Participants, who are often at challenging crossroads in their lives, are thus encouraged to take tangible steps toward greater empowerment such as pursuing previously intimidating educational or vocational venues.

The following outcomes have been noted by teachers, psychologists, social workers, and support staff at the centers and social service organizations where People & Stories / Gente y Cuentos programs have been offered:

• Problem-solving skills: as women in transitional housing shelters encounter the conflicts and resolutions represented in short stories, they begin to perceive new personal choices in life and discover new directions in solving problems;
• Recovery outcomes: as people in drug rehabilitation programs gain insights into the drama of the story, they are better able to work at their recovery;
• Intellectual self-confidence: as participants gain access to literature and develop the ability to interpret a complex text, they acquire a new self-confidence which helps them to become better students in a high school equivalency program;
• Tolerance of others: as participants in a multicultural or intergenerational group learn to listen to different interpretations of a story, they become more tolerant of other ethnic groups and of other generations;
• Parenting skills: as parents take part in a stories-focused discussion group, they are better able to understand what their children are doing in school and to encourage them to pursue further education;
• Educational ambition: as basic readers who are parents of young children experience the pleasure of literature, they are apt to read to their young children with greater frequency.
  

Community and Population Served by the Organization

Participants are recruited within community centers and social service organizations that serve minority, ethnic, elderly, or disadvantaged populations. Most participants are reading at or below fifth grade level, have not completed high school, are economically disadvantaged, are often in difficult circumstances, and are sometimes identified as "at-risk." The scope of the project has grown to include participants in prisons, homeless shelters, residential treatment centers, learning centers, and libraries among other community groups in diverse urban locations throughout the country.

Research Questions

• People & Stories is interested in the transformative power of narratives. How do stories shape understanding? Initiate change, both internally and externally?
  
  
• Gente y Cuentos is eager to expand its work with grassroots Latino groups in New Jersey. To do this we need to identify more social service organizations, ethnic clubs, or churches that serve Latinos, including new immigrants and second and third-generation adult and young adult populations.
  
  
• People & Stories strongly believes that there is a need for this project in New Jersey, but it would like a student to document this need. Is there any relationship between people joining informal educational groups and going on to get their G.E.D? Enrolling in college after completing their GED?
  
  
• What are the therapeutic powers of narrative? A group associated with Columbia University called “Narrative Medicine” is looking for ways in which narrative helps people to heal, to grow, and to bridge cultural divides. What research is available on this topic? Do the experience of People & Stories participants testify to the powers of literature and narrative?
  
  
• People & Stories is also interested in the benefits of reading and discussing literature for senior citizens, particularly those in residential senior settings such as assisted living centers, senior housing, or nursing homes. How does the reading benefit seniors? People & Stories always uses “enduring” literature, selected from their bibliographies.

• People & Stories is interested in the concept of family literacy. What is the relationship between parents’ reading practices and the reading success of their children, especially from kindergarten to 3rd grade? What role does People & Stories play in this dynamic? For example, People & Stories focuses on teaching people the importance and benefits of reading rather than the actual technical skills of reading. Are its participants more motivated to pick up a children’s book and read aloud to their children even if they do not necessarily have the skills to read an advanced adult book? Do the organization’s participants see the effect and importance of reading?
  
  

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