{"id":2701,"date":"2026-06-30T15:48:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=2701"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:48:55","slug":"getting-the-narrative-right-storytelling-for-student-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=2701","title":{"rendered":"Getting the Narrative Right: Storytelling for Student Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Cox ~ Learning Designer<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The call to adventure. The refusal of the call. Meeting the mentor. Crossing the threshold. The road of trials\u2026 Stories are everywhere, from entertainment to news, politics, ideologies\u2026 and learning.<\/p>\n

Storytelling has been part of the Open University (OU) Learning Design Team for years, as we explored how it works, recurrent patterns in story structures identified in Joseph Campbell\u2019s The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/em> monomyth, the practical steps of Christopher Vogler\u2019s The Writer\u2019s Journey<\/em>, and how stories relate to pedagogy. The more we looked the more parallels and links with learning became clear, from designing a student experience, to helping students share their stories, to the structure of a module. Classic story structures and techniques can help us amplify the best of what we do, grab students\u2019 attention, and keep them engaged through the highs and lows of their study adventure.<\/p>\n

\"'Beginning<\/a>
Infographic of Act 1 of Christopher Vogler\u2019s The Writer\u2019s Journey. [Click to open in new tab.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The OU Storytelling and Narrative Group<\/h1>\n

In 2024, we set up an OU Storytelling and Narrative Group, bringing colleagues across The University to explore how storytelling is being used in our modules already, and how we might design with storytelling to increase engagement with our students.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also arguably more important than ever:<\/p>\n

“I think as our society becomes more and more automated thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), those people who are able to communicate effectively, build empathy and engage each other on a human level are going to become more important than ever, and we will see storytelling play a huge part in this.”<\/em><\/p>\n

– Chris Thomson, JISC Digital Storytelling Community of Practice<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But there\u2019s so much to storytelling, and so much research available, where to start? We decided to focus our efforts on identifying storytelling principles we can use in module design to hook our students and keep them on their learning journeys. In other words, our learners are protagonists in their lives, and storytelling can help us weave the elements of an engaging learning journey together that helps them on their quests. As a group, we don\u2019t want to just explore storytelling, we want to build actions which have evidence of impact.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>
Create a story and you create a journey \u2013 and an experience. [Click to open in new tab.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Designing for the student experience<\/h1>\n

We realised that this gives us a focus on the student experience \u2013 their high points, their lows, where struggles arise on their journeys. And crucially this gives us a useful lens to design with, to support them, design in assistance, and smooth out some of the bumps in the road as they climb to their end goals.<\/p>\n

Through our work, we\u2019ve found that storytelling can be an essential part of Learning Design \u2013 bringing together the various threads that need to be considered when designing learning experiences. We\u2019re testing storytelling approaches, making links with other areas of work within The University and connecting with other teams who are keen to explore further. There are exciting opportunities ahead to build practical story principles into our student learning journeys. In story terms, we\u2019re in Act 2 now, and the road of adventure lies ahead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
The Road Goes Ever On. [Click to open in new tab.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

If you’d like our team to help you on your storytelling adventures we’d be happy to help with advice or a bespoke session. Contact us at LDS-LearningDesign@open.ac.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also find out more about the work of the OU Storytelling and Narrative Group, by contacting Chris.Cox@open.ac.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Further Reading:<\/p>\n

Joseph Campbell\u2019s The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/em> is one of the most well-known mythic story structures, and has been adapted into a practical tool for writers by Christoper Vogler\u2019s The Writer\u2019s Journey<\/em>: https:\/\/www.finaldraft.com\/blog\/3-reasons-you-need-to-show-your-protagonists-ordinary-world<\/a><\/p>\n

N.B. The Hero’s Journey<\/em> is an important concept in the world of storytelling, although both Cambell and the concept have attracted criticism. However, it provides a valuable insight into narrative patterns across history and cultures. Indeed, it\u2019s difficult to engage with discussion of story and its workings without being aware of it. It also has proven success in its application in film, most famously Star Wars<\/em>. Hence our focus on The Writer’s Journey<\/em> which distils these observed patterns into a practical guide for authors.)<\/p>\n

The use of The Hero\u2019s Journey in psychology to help clients: https:\/\/time.com\/6304708\/heros-journey-psychology\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Cox ~ Learning Designer   The call to adventure. The refusal of the call. Meeting the mentor. Crossing the threshold. The road of trials\u2026 Stories are everywhere, from entertainment to news, politics, ideologies\u2026 and learning. Storytelling has been part of the Open University (OU) Learning Design Team for years, as we explored how it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":2697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[347,1,35,603,147],"tags":[174,606,614,609,616,40,608,604,615,617,607,605,613,618,611,179,610,612],"class_list":["post-2701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-distance-learning","category-learning-design","category-ld-under-the-hood","category-storytelling","category-student-success","tag-ou_ld","tag-call-to-adventure","tag-classic-story-structures","tag-crossing-the-threshold","tag-jisc-digital-storytelling-community-of-practice","tag-learning-design","tag-meeting-the-mentor","tag-narrative","tag-ou-storytelling-and-narrative-group","tag-practical-story-principles","tag-refusal-of-the-call","tag-storytelling","tag-student-experience","tag-student-learning-journeys","tag-the-heros-journey","tag-the-open-university","tag-the-road-of-trials","tag-the-writers-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2701"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2712,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2701\/revisions\/2712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}