A Thumbnail Sketch for Future Design Education
Recent reading the book “Creative Schools” (Robinson & Aronica, 2015) recalls one of my unpublished research in 2011. It sketches the prescriptive scenario of design education and aims to synthesise insights for a revolutionary and desirable education. The analysis of five semi-structured interviews with design graduates from 1970’s to 2010’s triggers further understanding of future possibilities. It also investigates potential changes of design expertise (Dorst & Reymem, 2004) and design ability (Cross N. , The Nature and Nurture of Design Ability, 1990) for learning design in future. The insights sketch the thumbnail of a desirable future scenario, from design to economy, of design education.
Design Expertise and Design Ability
The three cultures of ‘learning design’, the eight basic ‘core features’ of design ability (Cross N. , The Nature and Nurture of Design Ability, 1990) and the nine basic competences (Dorst & Reymem, 2004) might all together tighten up on the definition of design ability. Goodlad quoted Vandenberg’s comprehensive set of educational perspectives is a sweeping summary of its ubiquitous character (Goodlad, 1997), while the definition of ‘design’ is quite various.
"Design is a tool to connect disciplines improving current situation into desired one." - Herbert Simon
"Design is conscious and intuitive efforts to impose meaningful order." - Victor Papanek
"Design is human power of conceiving, planning and making." - Richard Buchanan
Siu concluded the development of local “design education” has been suffering from the shortsightedness and a lack of vision (Siu, 2003) from the scarcity of the ideal design teacher to resources-driven decision making process since 1960s. If “design” can improve, turn or change the current situations into desired one, “design education” should be the tool to strength this expertise to survive in the swift developing world. Obviously, “design education” cannot wait any more for an immediate revolution in the instant future.
Learning Design in Future
If “education is the acquisition of the knowledge, skills, and values [and attitudes]” (Vandenberg, 1990), learning is a process from knowing via synthesizing different disciplines to acquiring new or modifying existing the four domains as stated above. The globalisation shortens the distance of anyplace and anytime but it does not mean that it is inexpensive to deliver. It must have a reason that distance learning does not decline before, and is not blooming also in the Digital Economy. The face-to-face dialogue in the process of learning is still important for a human being, as such social creature. Hence, e-learning as a new way of distance learning could not be stand alone. It goes for a complex multidimensional process like “edutainment”. More than a process, learning is ripening to an attitude of life and living. It is an experience, it should be designed. Then, four design principles and five design factors (Thackara, 2006) are inspiring for that design which might help to scribble the probable future of design education. The former principles are time and tempo, place and space, meaningful projects, as well as technology and networks; the latter factors are testing and assessment, mentors, mass collaborative learning, copyrights and cryptolopes, also playtime.
The insights versus imagination from design to economy will be coming soon in my next sharing.
SOLO: A Lonely Place
DUAL: Juxtaposition – Generalisation versus Professionalism
TRIO: Learning Environment and Way of Assessment