Abstract

This article makes a case for the re-balancing of agency through explicit design education, practice, and research that accepts narratives as a mode of inquiry, the frames of reference for the research process, and design practice. In instructional design terms, then, narrative is a design process, the reflection of that narrative is an artefact (e.g. online course), and a mode of inquiry that may also be represented by a narrative. A master narrative is a collection of stories of shared social understanding of a culture. Master narratives are told by the agreed-upon Knowledge Keepers and Elders of a culture, conveying messages of moral authority that, in their telling and remembering, help us make sense of our cultural experience and grow the connective tissue of social identity, the shared moral spaces represented by master narratives. However, master narratives can also exclude members of a community of practice as they are culturally explicit, and give rise to myths that are difficult to challenge. Narratives/myths are conveyed with metaphors; Metaphor is at the very center of language enabling us to make sense of what is around us, what we are doing, and what we carry in our memories. Master narratives are so powerful in identity development as professionals that alternative stories may not be validated; they need to be disrupted by counterstories. Critically examining narratives of practice and developing one’s own countertstory/counternarrative may provide space for alternative cultural and values-based conceptions of instructional design.