Learning Through Storytelling in Higher Education: Using Reflection and Experience to Improve Learning.

This book explores how storytelling can be intentionally used as a core teaching and learning strategy in higher education. McDrury and Alterio argue that when storytelling is formalised and structured within educational contexts, it captures real-world experiences and turns them into meaningful learning opportunities that deepen understanding, foster reflection, and stimulate critical thinking. The authors show how storytelling helps students articulate and examine their own lived experiences, connect theory with practice, and engage more fully with content through reflection and dialogue.

The book outlines different models of storytelling, explains how to create productive storytelling practices in tutorials and group settings, and discusses ethical and assessment considerations for educators. Storytelling is presented not merely as sharing anecdotes, but as a deliberate pedagogical device that supports reflective learning, honours diverse cultural and emotional experiences, and builds a “storytelling culture” within learning environments.

For the Telling Your Stories Project, this work provides strong theoretical and practical grounding for narrative pedagogies in formal learning contexts. It affirms that storytelling can make learning more relational, reflective, and personally meaningful, helping learners to connect intellectually and emotionally with content while developing deeper insight and critical awareness. It has particular relevance to teacher educational contexts and support the integration of narrative practice into learning spaces.