Story Based Learning: A Student Centred Practice-Oriented Learning Strategy

Abstract

Story based learning (SBL) has evolved as a way to promote quality in nursing education by assisting faculty to develop a student-centred learning environment. SBL is a teaching/learning strategy that also strengthens learners' capacities to provide quality nursing care. Health professional education has been identified as a key contributor to advancing quality care. Key documents identify the pillars of quality health professional education as client–centred care, inter-professional education, teamwork and collaborative learning, knowledge mobilization and evidence-based practice, awareness of the limits of one’s knowledge as a foundation for reflective practice and life-long learning, and mastery of a field of practice. SBL incorporates elements of problem-based learning, case method teaching, and narrative pedagogy. The student-centred orientation of SBL aligns with the philosophical principles of client-centred nursing: respect for lived experience, participatory dialogue, and critical appraisal of health–related contexts.

After providing an overview of SBL, we discuss the power of stories to engage learners in focused practice learning. We show how SBL sensitizes learners to: identify learning needs, develop information literacy, and recognize ethical, personal, interpersonal, and health team issues. We address how SBL fosters collaborative and participatory learning. Through a nursing lens learners using SBL identify a focus for nursing action, a process for negotiating nursing care, and appropriate nursing supports. The SBL process concludes with learners reflecting on what they have learned about learning and nursing. SBL is designed to develop in learners a habit of mind for clinical reasoning, reflective practice, and the delivery of quality nursing care.