Once when I heard about narrative, I could only think of novel or movie, as I used to narrowly understand design as packaging or graphic advertising. After having job experience and deeper understanding of learning theory, I realized that narrative and design lie everywhere in daily life and they have something in common. For example, they all have the intention and expectation. The elements of both are connected and the elements interact with each other, shape each other, then finally form a community of consciousness.

Learning is inseparable from various narrative contexts. Beyond an educational institution, we acquire knowledge and the understanding of the world in a variety of informal learning environments. For example, before attending school, children’s worldview has been shaped by family and cultural background. Another, in the narrative built by social media, our cognition is usually simplified or even distorted. Therefore, as a learning designer, we should take the role of narrative into consideration, applying narrative to building a more humane learning environment and a more efficient learning process.

The practice of learning design should rely on learning theory. One of the reasons is reliability and efficiency. Learning theories are proposed basing on a large number of observations and tests so that they improve the effectiveness of learning design. Another reason refers to adaptation. Multiple disciplines provide learning science rich theoretical lenses. It is like a database, you can choose the appropriate theory to guide your design according to different situations.

Personally, I will pay more attention to the use of narrative in my different roles. As a learning designer, I will build a learner-centered environment that facilitates motivation, conversation, and participation, so that students can enjoy learning by solving problems and achieving goals. As a graduate student, I respect the diverse narratives from teachers, peers, and learning materials. I appreciate the opportunities to learn from different perspectives to make my understanding more comprehensive. Specifically, I want to enhance my data and model narrative capabilities. As a storyteller, I want my character and the world to bring real experience but not exactly the same as reality. There must be logical motivations for behaviors and events, all of which serve to promote empathy.