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The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination by [Robert Coles]

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Robert Coles

The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination Kindle Edition

by Robert Coles (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Children of Crisis, a profound examination of how listening to stories promotes learning and self-discovery.

As a professor emeritus at Harvard University, a renowned child psychiatrist, and the author of more than forty books, including The Moral Intelligence of Children, Robert Coles knows better than anyone the transformative power of learning and literature on young minds. In this “persuasive” book (The New York Times Book Review), Coles convenes a virtual symposium of college, law, and medical school students to explore the phenomenon of storytelling as a source of values and character.

Here are transcriptions of classroom conversations in which Coles and his students discuss the impact of particular works of literature on their moral development. Here also are Coles’s intimate personal reflections on his experiences in the civil rights movement, his child psychiatry practice, and his interactions with his own literary mentors including William Carlos Williams and L.E. Sissman. The life lessons learned from these stories are of special resonance to doctors and teachers looking to apply them in classroom and clinical environments.

The rare public intellectual to be honored with a MacArthur Award, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a National Humanities Medal, Robert Coles is a true national treasure, and The Call of Stories is, in the words of National Book Award winner Walker Percy, “Coles at his wisest and best.”

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244 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Mariner Books
Publication date

December 9, 2014
File size

835 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Coles is a winner of the National Medal of Freedom.

From Library Journal

Using the "documentary study or psychiatric anthropology" approach of his previous works, Coles presents conversations with college, law, and medical school students that focus on the moral impact of their reading. For Coles, the study of literature is not a purely intellectual exercise but an encounter with exempla that bear on everyday moral dilemmas, and he argues that these students have come to see characters in novels as "buddies" that "help them make choices," find a direction, identify moral hazards, and understand their private lives. The argument is interesting, but the most compelling part of this loosely organized book is Coles's own reflections on the development of his own commitment to the moral dimension of literature and his memories of W.C. Williams, L.E. Sissman, and others.
- Richard Kuczkowski, Dominican Coll., Blauvelt, N.Y.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00Q1UJ7H0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books (December 9, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 9, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 835 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #387,182 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #88 in Experimental Education Methods (Kindle Store)
- #95 in Rhetoric (Kindle Store)
- #208 in Child Development

Customer Reviews:
27 ratings

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Robert Coles

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Robert Coles is professor emeritus at Harvard University and the author of numerous books, including his series Children of Crisis, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. He has also won a MacArthur Award, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a National Humanities Medal. He lives in Massachusetts.

Customer reviews

5 star		71%
4 star		11%
3 star		11%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		6%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Patrick Moore LMT BA

Storytelling is utmost important in Education as well as Therapy!

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2018

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This approach should be used in all education!

Frank McCourt apparently used storytelling in his high school teaching experience, as he describes in Teacher Man Teacher Man [Unabridged] (AUDIO CD/AUDIO BOOK) .

The cover gives a blurb by one of my favorite authors, Walker Percy. The Last Gentleman: A Novel I read Percy was also some kind of doctor like Coles was.

I have read Coles other books and articles including in the complation by Erik Erikson Youth:change & Challenge which was also very good, and have followed Coles ever since.

Still I am really happy with this book that describes how important stories are both in education and in therapy.

2 people found this helpful

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bobbalouie

Antidote to Pop Psychology

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2014

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Coles skillfully illustrates the utility of storytelling in plumbing the depths of the human spirit. Stories have for aeons taught us more than mere science about who we are -- which is why you can learn more about the human condition from Shakespeare than from a handbook of psychology. The latter provides convenient, and often useful, labels but is in the nature of a shortcut. Stories aren't a shortcut -- they cut to the core.

I'm an avid reader and this book is one of only a small handful I've ever read that I must have on my bookshelf. I read and re-read it. If I lose it I buy another copy. It's that good. You ought to read it.

10 people found this helpful

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Delia W.

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2013

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Robert Coles is a must-read author for anyone with children -- teachers, parents, school administrators -- everyone. He is a legendary thinker and moral philosopher.

2 people found this helpful

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cardioboy

best book for aspiring physicians

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2013

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my mentors at dartmouth all loved this book and required us to read .. very much on target for the life of a physician .. this is coles best work

5 people found this helpful

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Sue C

Stories are the memories we share

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2017

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Great connections between the stories we tell and the lives we lead. I enjoyed this book and found it helpful when reflecting and reading autobiographies and biographies.

One person found this helpful

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Johnw3

Interesting Collage of the Impact of Stories

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2014

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Coles provides a compelling analysis of the important role of stories in helping to shape imagination and morality, using personal examples from his own life and other prominent individuals.

2 people found this helpful

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muriel

GOOD JOB !

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2017

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HIS EXPRESSION OF THE VALUES EXPRESSED IN PEOPLE'S STORIES IS "RIGHT ON" HE SHARES HIS OWN EXPERIENCES DEFTLY.

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2014

Verified Purchase

Thank you

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Lu

Excellent book! Very good bookseller!

Reviewed in Canada on May 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

Robert Coles is a master of telling stories, especially he has a brilliant combination of literature, education and psychology. I borrowed his book “Handing one another along: Literature and social reflection”, after reading it, I decided to buy my own copy and give it to my daughter who is studying literature and psychology in university and aiming for education further.I also bought a copy of this book. I was not satisfied with my first copy because it didn’t match with the description, after contacting with them, promptly, they sent me another copy in better condition, very professional! The book seller “ Thriftbook Atlanta” is excellent!