Abstract:

“Metaphors are tools for meaning, representation, understanding, science, and education” (Louridas, 1999, 517). Metaphor are cognitive tools, modes of action, and cultural shorthand. In other words, metaphors are more than principles for guiding the “doing” of design; they are guiding principles for understanding the design process. While metaphors may operate explicitly on the surface, (e.g. in text), they carry implicit inferences with them that structure our interpretations and evaluations of our design experiences (Gillespie, 2005). What happens when conceptual metaphors become so ingrained, so pervasive, so inevitable in a culture?

The master narrative of instructional design is as a scientific domain immune to the sociocultural, geopolitical and economic contexts in which its temporal research, education and practice are situated, and that, further, instructional designers are impersonal technicians whose own ontological and epistemological foundations are to be sequestered, even suspected. Master narratives are as powerful as they are because, through language, they shape cultural and institutional discourses of power. We believe that instructional design practice is constituted by socially and culturally produced patterns of language with socially transformative power, i.e. as a socially constructed practice rather than a technology to be employed. But, for some time, the myths and metaphors of the master narrative of instructional design went unchallenged and became, in effect, gatekeepers to other conceptions or practices of design.

Since 2000 Campbell and colleagues have employed narrative inquiry methods to gather and try to understand the foundational metaphors of fellow designers, in higher education, as a way to deconstruct the meaning that they bring to and make of their social practice. In other words: How do they tell their stories? What influence do conceptual metaphors have on practice? When, how, and in what form are conceptual metaphors and narrative strategies made explicit in design form? How can we use narrative inquiry to reflect how metaphorical meaning emerges in “the design"? Through a grounded theory analysis of interview transcripts we have identified practice metaphors of ID, among them, “design as bricolage” “design as conversation”, design as “feminist practice”, “design as storytelling”, “design as provocation”, “design as embodied knowing” and “design as critical engagement”. These conceptual metaphors seem contrary to the metaphors of “design as system”, “design as science”, or “design as craft”, and yet they have powerful resonance for design practitioners. These metaphors suggest that design is a creative, relational, political process. This presentation will share the theoretical framework and results of this long-term study.

This presentation will share these metaphors to encourage an exploration and interpretation of the design metaphors of session participants.

Keywords:

Instructional design, professional practice, metaphors, narratives.