The use of narrative within interactive learning environments (ILEs) is widespread. Reviewing recent research in the fields of ethnography, cognitive psychology, neurobiology, discourse analysis, and education, this paper proposes a rationale for the use of narrative in ILEs. Starting with a description of the origin of narrative in the brain, the paper shows how memories are grouped into relational networks, commonly called schemata. These in turn are used as structural devices to allow fast and efficient cognitive processing, memory chunking, etc. Time-sensitive memories and their expression through narrative are seen as being at the core of human identity and culture. The issues of coherence, context, and assessment of narratives are then examined within the context of ILEs, with a concluding discussion on the co-construction of meaning using narratives. (Contains 1 figure and 6 notes.)