Women’s History Month 2023
Association of Montessori International/USA
Women’s History Month
March 1- March 31, 2023
by Sheri Bishop, M.Ed
The National Women’s History Alliance, which spearheaded the movement for March being declared National Women’s History Month, has announced the women’s history theme for 2023, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” The timely theme honors women in every community who have devoted their lives and talents to producing art, pursuing truth, and reflecting the human condition decade after decade (National Women’s History Alliance, 2023).
Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories. Every culture has its own stories or narratives. Stories keep us alive. Stories bring facts to life, make the abstract concrete and, is a fundamental way that we make meaning out of unbelievable and often inhumane life circumstances (NYU, 2023). Women of the world have blessed us with the stories that have shaped our existence, inspired us to grow, lent motivation, built our strength, and empowered our society to challenge the thoughts and systemic barriers that uphold the status quo.
When we talk of history, science, mathematics, and inventions, we do not only speak of facts, but we also speak of wonder and speaking to the power of the mind. In today’s world, we have often outsourced our memories to written text (Foster, 2022). The children love stories. It is important that we, as Montessori teachers, perfect the art of storytelling. It will serve us well to remember that “reading” books is not the only way to convey amazing stories, even non-fiction, historical, and those happening in our everyday lives.
Let’s celebrate this great month by uplifting the stories of women and girls around the world that represent multitudes of identities. How wonderful that we can begin sharing with the children the story of Lucy, the world’s most famous early human ancestor, the 3.2-million-year-old female Australopithecus afarensis skeleton found in 1974 (National Geographic, 2006). Her mere existence is a human triumph. We can continue throughout the month, and years ahead, telling so many stories until we come to offer the children stories by Shradha Mohunta. At about eight years old, she is perhaps the youngest female storyteller, book reviewer and daydreamer (Sahoo, 2021). We can follow her on Instagram as she reads and recommends awesome books for her peers.
References
Foster, C. The Art of Storytelling. August 31, 2022. Retrieved from:
https://montessori-ami.org/events/ami-talks-art-storytelling
February 21, 2023
National Geographic Staff. What Was “Lucy”? Fast Facts on an Early Human Ancestor. September 20, 2006. Retrieved from: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/hitory/article/lucy-facts-on-early-human-ancestors. February 21, 2023
National Women’s History Alliance. Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.
Retrieved from: https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org
February 21, 2023
NYU. The Purpose of Stories. Retrieved from: https://www.nyu.edu/faculty/teaching-and-learning-resources/strategies-for-teaching-with-tech/storytelling-teching-and-learning/the-purpose-of-stories.html February 21, 2023.
Sahoo, S. Meet the Youngest Storyteller of The World; Rourkela Girl Who Brought Laurels for Odisha October 7, 2021. Retrieved from: https://rtdjournal.com/meet-the-youngest-story-teller-of-the-world-rourkela-girl-who-brought-laurels-for-odisha/
Resources
https://www.instagram.com/ahanastoryteller/?hl=en
February 21, 2023.
UN Women. Hashtag women’s rights: 12 social media movements you should follow. June 28, 2019. Retrieved From: https://un-women.medium.com/hashtag-womens-rights-12-social-media-movements-you-should-follow-6e31127a673b February 21, 2023.
Williams, T. Meet 30 Inspirational Women This Women’s History Month. March 8, 2021.
Retrieved From https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommywilliams1/2021/03/08/meet-30-inspirational-women-this-womens-history-month/?sh=3f93d1e95208 February 21, 2023