Danielle Wheat Literature Review

The Narrative Story

A Literature Review

Danielle Wheat

Ball State University

EDAC 634- The Adult As a Learner 

Date:

Danielle Wheat

Commented On: Gabriel Shetterley and Margie Pyron

Introduction

            When it comes to adult education, there are multiple theories in which learning takes place. One of those is through narrative learning. As stated by Merriam et al. (2007) discusses that narrative learning consists of the stories that help guide the learner by enabling them to make meaning of what is being told (p. 208). As individuals, we view our lives as narratives. Everyday things happen and we add to our personal narrative. Not only do we have personal narratives, but we are surrounded by other narratives daily. There are the stories on the news, the stories our coworkers tell, the stories our families will hear, etc. All of these stories make up narrative learning. We use stories to facilitate teaching and learning either within ourselves or within the adult education field. We also use stories to communicate with others. Narrative learning is everywhere, especially in the adult education field. The general themes, implications of practice, and a reflection will be discussed. 

General Themes

            Based on researching literature on narrative learning, there are three general themes that can help explain this theory: Forms of Narrative Learning, Relationship of Narrative to Adult Education, and the Relationship of Narratives to the Development of Ourselves. To begin, we must take a look at the various forms of narrative learning to have a better understanding of the process. The three main ways narratives appear in practice are through the curriculum, storytelling, and autobiography. Curriculum is an important part of education because it outlines the learning expectations that should be met. Merriam et al. (2007) talks about how the text of a course, along with curriculum in general, is treated as a story by which students interact with the texts to better understand the subject (p. 209). Unless someone has been exposed to the subject matter beforehand or through another class, the learning process takes place by going through the stories related to the curriculum and allowing the learner to be exposed to something new. Since there is so much that goes into learning a particular curriculum, it is considered a learning process in itself (p. 210). 

            Storytelling is also a form of narrative learning and comes in many types. Fiction novels, play scripts, role-playing, and music are just some of the ways that storytelling is used (Avraamidou and Goedhart, 2017, 21). According to Marsha Rossiter (2002) “stories are effective as educational tools because they are believable, rememberable, and entertaining (4). Autobiographies are also another form of narrative learning. These include “journaling, dream logs, therapy, and blogs” (Merriam, Caffarella & Baumgartner, 2007, p. 211). By being humans and keeping record of things that happen, it allows others to learn through our experiences. It also gives a chance for self-reflection. 

            The next theme to narrative learning is about the relationship between adult education and narratives. Dorothea Nelson (2018) mentions how we use narratives to make something meaningful and therefore learn from that. Until there is a narrative about something, it holds no meaning for us (4). The narratives help adult learners understand new knowledge, give broad perspectives, and allow for the expansion of new possibilities through human experience (Rossiter, 2002, 6). Narrative learning takes place through all sorts of avenues that maybe we do not even think of because they are not in our fields. For example, in the science field, narratives can help the learners understand topics that they might not have comprehended beforehand. In a study completed by Lucy Avraamidou and Martin Goedhart (2017), they were able to conclude that the majority of students enjoyed learning through a narrative versus just their textbook. One student said, “I still remember very well what the story was about and my image of it in my mind” (29). Obviously, there are some learners who do not like learning through stories. However, there are stories everywhere which means this type of learning is inevitable. Deborah Tondreau (2003) mentioned that narratives are fundamental in human capacity and that it allows narrative learning to be a powerful and empowering way to catalyze transformative learning (18). Narratives allow the learner to develop and learn through critical thinking as well. 

            The last theme that will be discussed deals with how narrative learning relates to ourselves as an individual. Nelson (2018) expresses that our life stories are not always the same and sometimes, they can contradict one another. The context of our life stories differs as well. In one story we could be a hero but maybe not in another. All of this means that as the circumstances we go through and the context changes, we have our stories, but they can always be rewritten or told in a different way. Our personal stories change over time (4). 

            Not only are the personal stories changing with over time, but our self-identity is made up through our narratives (Nelson, 2018,5). When it comes to self-narratives, there are different influencers that provide perspective. These include “intelligence, memory, embodied emotion, spirituality, storied lives and lifeworld contexts, and ethics” (Tondreau, 2003,18). Between all of these different perspectives that narratives can take after, one thing is for sure. Some of our stories are better than others and that is just how life is. Our stories can be good, bad, or both. Everyone is different and everyone goes through different things. 

Implications for Practice

            Narrative learning is one of those learning theories that can be used at any age. Elementary school teachers can use it in their classroom along with adult educators that are teaching a CPR class. There are so many ways and ideas that narrative learning can be used in the education field. Based off of the three themes discussed above, I have some suggestions that can used in practice. 

            The first theme was about the various forms of narrative learning. They included curriculum, storytelling, and autobiography. If you are teaching a class based off a certain curriculum, I suggest weaving in some narratives to go along with the textbook. Textbooks are treated as a form of narrative because it contains written words on the subject that allows the learner to read in detail. However, sometimes this does not always allow the learner to fully understand the subject at hand. As an educator, one could help the students by providing stories that are related to the subject. 

            With storytelling, there are lots of options here. For example, role-playing is a way that one can use storytelling in practice. I personally have seen the benefits of this. I am the Outreach Coordinator for Ball State’s Center for Professional Selling and there are many sales competitions throughout the year that our students will attend and compete with other sales students across the state or country. In January, we had the internal competition that was just for Ball State students. The company sponsor was Gartner and each student were given the role-play scenario one week prior to the competition so they could prepare for it. During the competition, the student would go through the role-play including knocking on the door, introducing themselves to the buyer, going through the sales pitch, and bringing it all together at the end. Then employees from other sales companies acted as judges. They had a score sheet and would get 10 minutes after the student went through the role-play to give feedback. The role-play scenarios really allowed our students to understand how the real-world of sales works. For some, this was their first time going through this and for others, they had attended many competitions prior. It was a neat experience and the students enjoyed it. I truly believe that role-playing is a great way to integrate narrative learning into the classroom because I have seen firsthand how successful it can be. 

            The last form of narrative learning was autobiography. Along with the other two, there are many suggestions that can be used to facilitate this. I want to talk about journaling. I think a lot of people do not realize the benefits that journaling can have either in the classroom or just with yourself. I know in previous courses; I have had to keep a learning journal and write in it once a week. This allowed me to see what I had learned that week, what I needed to improve on, what I needed further clarification on, etc. Although some weeks I viewed these as a pain, they really did help me understand my learning styles. I also believe journaling outside the classroom is a good idea. I keep a journal and although I do not journal every day, it helps me to write down my thoughts. I also can look back on the journal at any time. I personally think keeping a travel journal is a good idea too. When I studied abroad in Spain, I wrote in my journal every day to document my experience. I read it from time to time and it reminds me of the fun, and struggles, that I went through during that time. 

            The second theme was about how narrative learning has a relationship to adult education. Any of the above suggestions correlate to adult education and can be used in practice. I think implementing critical thinking through narratives is a good way to bring narrative learning into adult education. The last theme was about narrative learning and us. Again, journaling is a great strategy for understanding us as individuals. Another suggestion is to go through therapy. Maybe paying for a therapist is out of the budget but at least having someone to talk to is a good idea. This could be a close friend, family member, classmate, colleague, etc. By talking about the struggles, one may be going through or just life in general, can be beneficial. There is a misconception that therapy is only for those who have anxiety or are going through hard times. I have a friend that goes to therapy once a month just to talk things out with them and get advice. She is not necessarily going through a lot of hard times, but just having someone to talk to that understands is helpful for her. 

Reflection

            I would be lying if I said this assignment was easy for me. I have always been the type that loves to write but reading different articles/journals and interpreting them along with putting that into words, was difficult. I created an outline in the beginning to help me get my thoughts organized but it still was hard. I have never completed a literature review before, but I am happy that we had to. Going outside the comfort zone is always a good way to learn something. Although there are a ton of aspects to narrative learning, I do believe this assignment helped me understand the process more. My advice for anyone who has never done a literature review is to take the time to physically write the main points that jump out to you when reading the literature. I personally remember things more if I handwrite them so writing down thoughts as I read was helpful for me. 

            

Table

Main Themes	Implications
Theme 1: Forms of Narrative learning Curriculum- textbooks, stories related to content Storytelling- role-plays, music, fiction, scripts Autobiography- journals, therapy, dream logs	Discuss in detail one per three forms
Theme 2: Narrative learning in relation to adult education	Forms – role plays Talk about competitions within the sales center
Theme 3: Narrative learning in relation to ourselves	Forms- journals and therapy