We Are Listeners | PBS American Portrait

PBS American Portrait asks people to be vulnerable, to share their stories widely. In this virtual professional learning episode, we engage the PBS American Portrait prompt “You don’t know what it’s like to…” to examine the power of personal narrative and its expression in literature. We consider how growing our students’ listening and empathy skills can help them be more critical, engaged, joyful storytellers and readers.

The episode, hosted by PBS Digital Innovator All-Stars Laura Bradley, Mike Lang, Glenda Lozada and Bobbi Starling, features award-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick, and Ford Foundation program associate Jule Hall, who is featured in Novick’s latest documentary, College Behind Bars. Novick’s perspective as a filmmaker demonstrates how we can empathetically hear and represent complex stories, while Hall’s experience sharing his own story with a large audience shows us how students might begin crafting their own narratives. In conversation with educators, Novick and Hall share how listening to the stories of others will help students empathize, tell strong stories, and be more engaged readers.

By the end of the episode, teachers will have specific with American Portrait lesson ideas to teach empathetic listening, storytelling, and literary elements and analysis.

Resources shared during the event can be found here.