3: The Unfolding Transdisciplinary Intersection Between Narrative, Experience, and Design-Based Education

This chapter explores the past, present, and future of design-based education. First, we look at the historical backdrop of design-based education and the literature’s current definitions and understandings of design-based learning. Next, we look at the philosophical underpinnings of narrative inquiry, experience, and design by exploring key philosophers and researchers that bridge the critical intersection of these fields: Dewey, Schwab, Craig, Schön, and Cross. This look to the past philosophers and researchers helps us broaden the understanding of curriculum to curriculum-making, broaden the knowledge of empathy interviewing and sensemaking to the tenets of narrative inquiry, and create an intersection across disciplines to more fully understand what design-based inquiry could be. Finally, we end the chapter by situating the future value of design-based inquiry as a vehicle for building the capabilities of individuals to design to thrive while navigating the critical tensions between the best-loved self and the best-loved society.