Combining lived experience with the facilitation of enquiry-based learning: a 'trigger' for transformative learning

What is known on the subject The values underpinning recovery-orientated practice are recited in the literature and influential in the content of mental health nurse education internationally. However, scepticism exists regarding the degree to which students' assimilate the principles of recovery into their practice due to the troublesome and challenging nature of learning at a transformational level, also known as threshold concept learning. Evaluation suggests that this combination of educational approaches positively influences students' prior understandings, beliefs and values in relation to the prospect for people with significant mental health problems to recover. The components of threshold concepts are useful as a deductive framework for the evaluation of educational initiatives which attempt to initiate transformative learning. While this forum clearly holds significant potential for student development, support and preparation is needed for both the student and the facilitator in order to enable the possibility of learning which influences attitudes, beliefs and practice. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential for combining lived experience of mental distress with the facilitation of enquiry-based learning (EBL) to act as a trigger for transformative learning in the context of promoting the understanding of mental health 'recovery' in nurse education.The values underpinning recovery-orientated practice are recited in the literature and influential in mental health nurse education internationally. However, scepticism exists regarding the degree to which students assimilate into their practice. An open-ended was distributed to a cohort of pre-registration nursing students receiving the co-facilitated EBL (n = 112). Data demonstrated how the specific attributes of this educational approach were identified by students as impacting positively on ill-informed preconceptions, understanding of complex theory and their future practice. Results were considered in light of the identification of 'recovery' as a 'threshold concept' and offered evidence to support the value of this specific educational forum in the promotion of learning which is transformative, integrative, bounded and at times troublesome. Support and significant preparation is needed for both the student and the facilitator in order to enable the possibility of transformatory learning.