2 Challenges of imagining and dreaming
We are all socialised into stories and images of practices. Sometimes these stories are stated explicitly (e.g. ‘we have always done it that way’ or ‘we have found they respond better if … ’) and sometimes they are more subtle (e.g. the ways spaces are configured, expectations of what should be valued highly or particular ways of using language that are specific to your context or practice). These narratives can be reinforced through every interaction we have (with people, ideas, materials, spaces), and often as practitioners we have aligned ourselves with these narratives to ensure we and our practices are accepted and valued.
Yet, these narratives, while offering us many positive and important aspects, do come with challenges when undertaking inquiry. A significant challenge is how science has created particular assumptions about research and inquiry, where there is a longing for ‘one true story’, an ultimate truth, which is coherent and neat (Gough, 2010). This notion of ‘one true story’ limits practices of imagining and dreaming, where narratives can feel fixed and immovable, where changes to practices and new ideas often feel very small and larger scale change feels daunting and unmanageable. This aligns with Dey and Mason’s (2018) description of the ‘orthodox social imaginary’ (p. 84), where stories can act as constraints and restrict how far we can imagine and dream differently. An example of this could be the common perception (despite the reality often being very different!) of the teacher at the front of the classroom, with children waiting to ‘absorb’ knowledge that they hear.
Another challenge, closely linked to ‘orthodox social imaginaries’, is the tension between imagining and real-life pragmatism. Of course, real-life pragmatism is important in the everyday functioning of our contexts, where we need to focus on what we can do and what the boundaries of our current actions are. Yet, an appreciative approach to inquiry asks us to move beyond the ‘right now’ realities, to identify where opportunities exist for different stories and images that can guide our actions. This isn’t to prohibit discussion of the realities as part of the imagining phase, but to see them as a generative part of the discussions, whereby identifying how systems, processes, expectations, if changed, could open up new ways of thinking and doing.
Reading about these challenges may make you feel that being too close to the inquiry focus, being too invested in processes and systems, or being socialised into the practices and languages of your context, might make dreaming or imagining difficult. But, it is precisely because you understand these narratives and the ways they play out that you are best positioned to move beyond them and bring others with you. The next section will focus on techniques to support this shift towards imagining and dreaming a different future.