The power of stories to democratize classroom discourse and drive authentic leadership development

The pedagogical strategies we adopt as engineering educators are not simply tactical instruments used to get the job of knowledge transfer done. They are relational processes that shed light on who we are as educators and how we connect our students to their chosen profession. In this paper I draw on five conceptual anchors from Paulo Freire’s and bell hooks’ critical pedagogy: decentring teacher authority 1, 2, reading the world with the word 3, student engagement 2, theory as liberatory practice 4, and drawing on experiential wisdom 5 to analyze four activities I used in an elective HSS course called “The Power of Story: Discovering your Leadership Narrative.” The primary purpose of this paper is to illustrate what is possible when we supplement professional skill development with critical reflection on practice. I conclude that at least three things are possible: 1) students recognize their experientially rooted wisdom, 2) the classroom shifts from lecture hall to learning community, and 3) HSS credits are transformed from program accreditation instruments to catalysts for deeply disciplined inquiry.