Liberatory Design Thinking for Equity-Centered Instructional Design: A Systems Thinking Analysis

Abstract

As per the National Equity Project, any system that produces inequities, injustices, and inequalities is often a product of design. Research has shown that systemic inequity often results from the design process and can rupture the power balance, producing inequitable relationships in the social justice arena (NEP, n.d.). Equity-centered systems design is pivotal in dismantling systems of oppression and empowering people of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, the indigenous, and other marginalized communities. An equity-centered liberatory design thinking approach can support instructional designers in identifying and addressing the problems of inequities in an existing system. By considering the ethos and strategies necessary to center equity by design, instructional designers can provide a platform and opportunity for all stakeholders to practice converging and divergent thinking.