Host Elizabeth Ascroft welcomes four members of the Ibali team: Yusra Price, Joanna Wheeler, Jennifer Agbaire, and Alison Buckler, to reflect on three years of research and the power of storytelling as a creative method.

Together, they unpack the Ibali research methodology and what they learned along the way. They reflect on their storytelling work with young people and teachers across the UK, South Africa, and Nigeria. The conversation delves into the challenges, surprises, and transformations that emerged through this process.

The team explores the art and ethics of storytelling, the importance of collaboration and context, and how stories can reshape understanding in education. They also share practical insights and advice for anyone interested in using storytelling to spark inclusion, connection, and change.

You can find out more about the Ibali project here.

Click here for a free online guide for storytelling

Speaker Bios

Alison Buckler is a Professor of International Education at The Open University. She has been working and researching in the area of educational inclusion for 15 years. She is a founding member of the Ibali/Story Research Network. She is Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) at The Open University, and Chair of the British Association for International and Comparative Education.

Jennifer Jomafuvwe Agbaire is a Lecturer in Education at The Open University, UK. She is the Learners and Learning Hub Lead for the OU’s CSGD and the Postgraduate Research Convenor for Global Development for Education and Wellbeing. Her interests include social identities, social justice and inclusion in/through education as well as creative and co-creative approaches. She is a core member of the Ibali/Story Research Network, Executive Secretary and Trustee of the British Association of Comparative and International Education and co-Editor of the British Educational Research Association Blog.

Joanna Wheeler is the founder of Transformative Story

Yusra Price is an independent anthropologist, facilitator and qualitative researcher working across many interrelated practices. She holds a Master's in Anthropology from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and is currently a PhD candidate. Her doctoral research is interested in what success means to people studying or working at university and what purpose higher education plays in people’s lives, and in South Africa more broadly. In a consulting capacity, her practice centres on designing and facilitating participatory, arts-based workshops and processes that foster collaboration, strengthen strategic alignment, and embed collective learning.

Elizabeth Ascroft is a PhD candidate at The OU and an independent research consultant. She specialises in arts-based creation with young people. Research is her chosen form of activism, and she produces podcasts as a means to bring academics, practitioners and activists to discuss social justice issues.

Keywords: Ibali, storytelling, research methodology, inclusion, education, creative methods, ethnography, collaborative storytelling, transformative story, ethical research