The effectiveness of storytelling on adult learning

Abstract

Purpose

As two doctoral students and adult learners, the authors strongly believe that story telling can be a great tool for educators working with adult learners. The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of how effective storytelling can be for adult learners.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach of this paper is one of gathering information from literature written on storytelling and adult learning. The paper is designed to introduce storytelling as an effective tool for adult educators while also pointing out the different types of storytelling and its implications on e‐learning.

Findings

The findings from the literature review completed confirmed the authors' view that storytelling is effective for adult learners.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, a more comprehensive qualitative study should be completed to enhance the research on the effectiveness of storytelling on adult learning.

Practical implications

The paper gives insight as to how some organizations are using storytelling, types of effective storytelling for educators and also the implications of storytelling on e‐learning.

Originality/value

This paper provides resources and information for adult educators and organizations to enhance or implement another way of instructing adult learners. The focus of the paper is to get adult educators and organizations to use storytelling as part of the learning process.

Citation

Caminotti, E. and Gray, J. (2012), "The effectiveness of storytelling on adult learning", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 430-438. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665621211250333