- Designers have portfolio. Programmers have software projects. Journalists have writing samples. But that's about it.
- From interviews with people with personal portfolios, the act of putting together the pieces is often more important and rewarding than the portfolio itself. An insight emerges: perhaps the portfolio is a means to something else, to the act of reflecting and taking stock of one's life and work.
- One skill that learners of all ages need to master is reflection on past experiences. It is how the most important lessons from our life and work come from, yet they are not easily captured in resume and portfolio. Moreover, reflection is often a confusing process. How do we first start then?
- The answer is story. Through generating personal stories, we can start to uncover common themes and articulate our life and work philosophies. Only then can we align them and develop a cohesive vision that will guide our futures.
- From these stories, we can also identify our skills, values and how we respond to different situations. This work of reflection has two main benefits:
- First, it helps create trust with ourselves (think about how prevalent the Impostor's syndrome is for millennials). Second, the narrative that comes from such reflection can be used to communicate with future employers that we are up to the challenges of the job and more importantly that we share common values.
- Storytelling is everywhere, not only for the Drama and English students but also for job interviewing. Stories make life go around. Learners of all ages have been telling stories informally, but the skill is rarely properly emphasized and taught in formal schooling.
- Students have to write personal essays when they apply to college but not during and upon graduation. What if each college freshman starts making a portfolio of stories with lessons learned and skills developed in addition to the traditional resume?
- Moreover, what if we have groups of learners sharing & helping each other refine our own stories? How about a story slam of "What I've learned from work?" with candid lessons?
LIVES (Learning Iteratively via Evolving Stories) [refinement v2, with user journey map, prototype ideas, feedback and name changed]
A guide to create learning communities through storytelling.




Who is your idea designed for and how does it reimagine higher education to support the needs of tomorrow?
Learners of all ages, particularly high school and college students. The needs of tomorrow require people who can create a coherent story for themselves, about what they have learned and how they all fit together and shape their future.This idea emerged from:
- A group brainstorm
- An OpenIDEO outpost or chapter
- An individual
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CommentKate Rushton