'There is a story to be told...'; a framework for the conception of story in higher education and professional development.

The use of 'story' in higher education is obvious in some disciplines such as drama, English literature and other art subjects--but there is story in other disciplines, including nursing, which is often unrecognised and undervalued. When something is unrecognised, we have less power to work with it and exploit its potential. This paper identifies a theoretical structure for the use of story in higher education and provides illustrative examples from nursing and other academic disciplines.