Teaching and Transforming Through Stories: An Exploration of Macro- and Micro-Narratives as Teaching Tools

Abstract

Narratives are one of the most powerful teaching tools available and are often regarded as central to the learning process. We investigate the role of narrative in adult learning in library instructional contexts, introducing the concepts of micro- and macro-narratives and illustrating these ideas using relevant teaching examples. Macro-narratives are stories that are common across many cultures and contain universal themes and lessons. Micro-narratives are stories that are uniquely relevant to the members of a particular group. We argue that both types can be used to create meaningful library learning experiences.

keywords:

• storytelling
• narrative
• information literacy
• adult learning
• andragogy
• librarians