Advancing the situational application of LEGO ® Serious Play ® : a qualitative approach to exploring student transition in nursing education

Background: Qualitative methods relying on verbal articulation systematically exclude participants whose experiences are shaped by power asymmetry, prior conditioning to silence and racialised environments. LEGO ® Serious Play ® (LSP) has shown potential as an inclusive approach, but its theorisation as a methodology remains underdeveloped. Aims: This paper advances a four-principle framework for the situational application of LSP as a context-responsive qualitative methodology and contribution to equity-centred nursing research. Methods: Drawing on an interpretative phenomenological analysis study with racially minoritised (RM), internationally transitioning nursing students in UK higher education, the paper examines conditions under which LSP generates access to experiences shaped by power, hierarchy and structural inequities of racialised transition. Results: Situational LSP enabled participants to materialise tacit experiences of power, identity and belonging through construction, generating spatial and symbolic data qualitatively different from verbal accounts. The framework comprises four principles: context sensitivity, participant voice and positioning, meaning-making through metaphor, and construction and researcher reflexivity. Conclusions: The situational application of LSP is a transferable methodological contribution to nursing research. For practice and education, it offers a model prioritising equity of voice among RM and transitioning nursing students. For policy it highlights the need for approaches addressing experiential complexity of internationally educated nurses navigating racialised professional transition.