What do the Lion King and professional learning have in common? Cambridge Advance Online Learning Designer Stewart Utley shares how his team have used the art of storytelling to design memorable courses shaped by the goals and motivations of learners.

“Sometime reality is too complex. Stories give it form.” - Jean Luc Goddard

Consider the last story you read, heard or saw – whether that’s a film, TV show or novel – and consider its purpose. It might have been to make you laugh, to make a point, or purely for escapism. But dig deep enough into any story and you'll find that stories act as mechanism for communication. A structure for meaning making.

Stories are how we explore and understand the world – and by appealing to our emotions, they’re often far more memorable than numbers or statistics. That’s when we became interested in storytelling structure – could this be the key to making our learning memorable, intuitive and engaging?

So what is a story?

Reflect on almost any story you know, and there's a chance its components can fit into Freytag's 'Narrative arc'. This centuries-old structure serves as a list of narrative components, set to an order in which the arc-like shape of a story reveals itself.

Taking Disney’s Lion King as an example, these steps include:

• Exposition: This is the world depicted by the story at the beginning; the 'status quo' inhabited by the characters of the story. Simba is born.

• Initiating action: This is where the status quo is disrupted. Scar starts a stampede which leads to the death of Mufasa.

• Rising action: The events that the main characters engage with, often increasing in intensity over the story. Simba is driven with Nala’s help to return to Pride Rock and take his place as king.

• Climax: This is it. This is where the preparation pays off. The final battle between Simba and Scar.

• Resolution and 'denouement': We started the journey with a 'status quo'. Now, post-climax, the world looks, feels and acts different. This is the 'new normal'. Simba is celebrated as the new king.

But what does that have to do with online professional courses?

We wanted to see if the same structure that is used to sculpt rich stories could be applied to scope, map and create courses that not only guide learners through a journey, but empower them to create their own.

So we had a play. Through the lens of learning design, our narrative structure emerged:

• Exposition: This is the professional world our learners are navigating. Understanding this landscape is key to designing a course that reflects the needs of the world around them. This is where we tap into learner motivations, reservations and learning preferences to shape the course.

• Initiating action: Our learners often want to take that next step in their career but feel held back by a skill or knowledge gap that limits their competence and confidence. Honing in on what learners will need to achieve their career goal is key.

• Rising action: Once we've established the key knowledge gaps to close, we plan a journey that guides learners through the content and training required to address that gap. Practice leads to competence. Competence leads to confidence.

• Climax: This is the opportunity for learners to face their previous skill gaps head on. It’s often an activity where learners demonstrate their developed skills and competence.

• Resolution and 'denouement': The learners take their competence and apply it in their workplace or future career. Doors open, opportunities arise, new stories are forged.

Stories within stories

Whilst our courses contain narrative arc, other stories are naturally woven into their fabric. Our modules are also structured narrative arcs, as learners navigate through areas of focus, build up key skills and address professional challenges.

Case studies, expert stories and industry examples leverage storytelling throughout to prepare learners to apply real-world insights from expert voices in their industry to them in an approach that is both compelling and actionable.

We want our learners to guide their own stories

In a shifting professional landscape where expectations of skills, knowledge and competencies are constantly in flux (consider how necessary AI has become) and the need for continuous education has never been so important.

We want professionals to feel empowered to guide their own story: where they are, where they want to be and what type of learning will get them there. It's our role as learning designers and course providers at Cambridge Advance Online to hold up the lamp and help illuminate those potential paths.

The power of stories in course design

As learning designers, stories allow us to consider the richness and variety of learners’ professional backgrounds and construct momentum-building narrative flows that help our learners achieve not only course goals but transfer that momentum into their professional contexts.

Where will your story take you? All our courses are carefully crafted to help learners like you take the next step in your career. Find the right course for you today.