It was a great day when

1
It was a great day when

• .transformative learning through critical
  storytelling techniques
• Meta From PDP to CPD Seminar
• Weds 30th April 2008
• Angela Tomkins
• University of Gloucestershire

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Introducing.

• Learning to learn
• A study Guide for Personal and Professional
  Development
• Developing Critical Stories for Reflective
  Learning

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Storytelling and Critical Storytelling

• Storytelling as a tool for personal, professional
  and academic development
• Transformative learning
• Reflection versus critical reflection
• Enabling transformative learning to take place
  through storytelling techniques

4
Learning from stories

• One of storytellings strengths is its
  flexibility. We can work with stories or aspects
  of stories in many different ways we can walk
  around them, wander through them, step into their
  centre or hover at the edge.
• Mc Drury and Alterio 200235

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Transformative Learning

• .to make meaning means to make sense of an
  experience we make an interpretation of it. When
  we subsequently use this interpretation to guide
  decision making or action, then making meaning
  becomes learning.
• Mezirow (19901)

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Reflection v critical reflection

• .reflection implies an element of critique, the
  term critical reflection will here be reserved to
  refer to challenging the validity of
  presuppositions in prior learning
• Mezirow (199012)

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Contribution to student centered learning

• A greater capacity for getting to grips
  with.
• Self awareness
• Self identity
• Self authoring
• confidence building!

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A case study of post work experience students at
the University of Gloucestershire

• Initially 42 post placement students
• Preparing critical stories in preparation for
  mock interview situations
• Storytelling process overlaid with Moons map of
  learning (1999)
• (see Guide page 6)
• What happened during the process and why?

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Map of Learning

• Noticing
• Making sense
• Making meaning
• Working with meaning
• Transformative learning
• (Moon 1999) Learning through storytelling

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Storytelling process

• Story finding
• Story telling
• Story expanding
• Story processing
• Story reconstructing
• Storytelling process (McDrury and Alterio
  2003)

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What were the catalysts?

• Critical incidents draws on real experiences
  (reflection on action Schon 1983)
• Support for the process - learning sets and
  mentors
• Working with digital stories

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What were the strengths of the approach?

• Students liked to do something new
• Students welcomed the opportunity to stop to
  reflect
• Students could engage with their learning at a
  deeply personal level

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Some examples

• .and some challenges

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5 challenges for the use of this approach?

• Selling the idea of story as a tool for
  academics
• Designing modules incorporating a well defined
  process for encouraging reflective learning
• Achieving student buy in for the idea
• Personalised learning is time consuming
• Articulating transformative learning and to whom?
  

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Selling the idea of story as a tool for
academics

• Solution produce evidence of students
  transition from descriptive learning to
  critically reflective learning

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Designing modules incorporating a well defined
process for reflective learning

• Solution - consider learning design within
  modules which create active learning scenarios to
  enable storytelling processes to take place
  socialised learning

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Achieving student buy in for the idea

• Solution - Persuade academic staff of its
  relevance by identifying a range of applications
  and examples of student work
• Solution - Allow students to showcase their
  work

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Personalised learning is time consuming!

• Solution promote peer support in the process
• Solution make the learning highly relevant to
  the learner

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Articulating transformative learning

• From PDP to CPD.
• What would persuasive evidence of transformative
  learning look like from a potential employers
  perspective?

20
References

• Mezirow, J. and Associates (1990) Fostering
  Critical Reflection in Adulthood. A Guide to
  Transformative and Emancipatory learning. USA
  Jossey-Bass
• Mc Drury,J. and Alterio, M. (2003) Learning
  through Storytelling in Higher Education. London
  Kogan Page
• Moon, J. (1999) Reflection in Learning and
  Professional Development London Kogan-Page
• Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner
  how professionals think in action. New York Basic
  Books INC