We all love a story; it’s part of what we are as human beings. In fact it’s been said that the original learning technologies were the story and the conversation. But how can we use this natural way of learning for organisational learning? This presentation was part of the Learning and Skills Group webinar series where, Dr. Maureen Murphy, Managing Director at Aurion Learning and and Pat Kenny, eLearning Manager at HSE explored the practical side of developing and using stories for learning.
14. “ a story is not a story until it is told; it
is not told until it is heard; once it is
heard, it changes–and becomes open
to the beauties and frailties of more
change: or: a story is not a story until it
changes. “
Della Pollock
15. ”Do I want the other person to understand
what I mean, or do I want the other person to
simply do as I say?
16. People everywhere assert meaning to their
lives and even to their work through
narrative. It is how we value ourselves and
others.
Narrative learning is a form of constructivist
learning, where learning occurs through
attaching meaning to an event or even to
new information.
17. It is a basic tenet of adult-learning-theory that
adults bring with them their lived-experience to
any learning activity.
As teachers, instructors or instructional designers
the choice is whether to ignore this experience,
or whether to harness it. A very considerable
amount of that passes for work-based learning
ignores the lived-experience.
18. Clarke and Rossiter describe three types of
narrative learning
– learning journals
– concept-focused autobiographical writing
and
– instructional case studies
Commonly used in medicine, nursing,
counseling therapies and public
administration.
19. Stories, most notably those that reflect a lived
experience, are essentially unfinished. There
is always more to tell. This is their strength.
shared learning experience
……engage people in the story to create new
endings.
Consider this story from Audre Lorde
20. How would you make use of this
story to aid learning?
21. Using stories in practice
The early identification of memory problems in older
persons
– Drama that reflects lived experience
– Stories (Joe English, ABC News, Scottish Dementia
Association)
23. Telling the story
Safe, relaxed environment
During the ‘conversation’
– close relationship between the storyteller and
storylistener to get below the ‘surface’ – at the real story
below the layers
– vision of where you want to go after the story unfolds
– deep immersion – extreme ‘active listening’
– look for a theme or thread to tease out in the moment
Storyteller needs to feel that they are well looked
after and a ‘relief’ for them
24.
25. Using
Stories
•Include in an eLearning or
face:face programme for IMPACT
Interest
Motivation
Presentation
Activity
Closure
Try Out
Storytelling in learning
29. • Building on storytelling for advertising,
sales & marketing
• Looking for the personal & authentic
story – empathy
• Alternative models for story capture
Storytelling in learning
31. Current Research
• Best way to use stories in the corporate
environment (in and for the business)
• How to encourage people to create their own
stories
• Training on how to ‘script’ their story
• Identifying types and templates for stories to guide
storytellers
• Publishing formats
• Ownership of stories
• Workflow & corporate ‘stamp of approval’
33. References
Frank, A.W. (1997). The Wounded Storyteller: body, illness and
ethics. University of Chicago Press.
Lorde, A. (1994). The Cancer Journals. Aunt Lute Books
Pollock, D. (2006). Memory, remembering, and the histories of
change. The Sage handbook of performance studies, 87–105.
Rossiter, M, Clark, C (2007). Narrative and the practice of adult
education. Krieger Publishing Company.