Paying it forward: Practicing Scholarship of Engagement in Design Education
Reasons for the majority of South African schools’ underperformance makes for constant debate not only in the educational sphere but also in society at large. Some voices ask the very relevant question: might it not be because teachers themselves are confronted by subject-specific challenges in the teaching and learning environment? Considering this historical dilemma, who needs to contribute to reparation? In the discipline of Design the issue manifests at secondary (high school) level where design teaching still receives scant recognition within the education system. Design as a school subject remains a major challenge, where its value is not yet fully accepted within the school system, consequently not always well supported and easily stereotyped. The majority of design teachers still have to overcome a badly informed understanding of the nature, purpose and status of design as a subject as well as several negative stereotypes associated with the discipline. Most notable is the stereotype that design is a ‘soft subject’ for those ‘creative learners that struggle with more challenging academic subjects’ such as mathematics, science and biology. Design teachers face these challenges while handicapped by a generalised lack of training and experience in teaching the thinking and practice of design. This paper reports on a project that was designed to facilitate teacher development and thereby to develop teachers as scholars. Platform 6 is a training programme devised for secondary school design teachers (grades 10 to 12) on the methodology (pedagogy) of teaching design thinking and practice, and is conducted as an official project of World Design Capital Cape Town 2014. Therefore within a series of six workshops spanning eight months during 2014, a group of design lecturers from a number of HE Institutions shared their skills in design with the community of teachers. The study is exploratory in scope and nature since as a World Design Capital Cape Town project, it was limited to a sample of National Senior Certificate (NSC) schools in the Western Cape. Qualitative-exploratory research methodology was employed due to the paucity of available findings about the teaching and learning environment of design teachers in South Africa. What has emerged as central themes from the qualitative analysis of the content of team discussion sessions and surveys are most significantly that school leadership and management, the teaching and parent bodies and learners in general, largely misunderstand the basic concept of design as a school subject. There is a need to promote and explain the role and scope of design teaching. Design teachers are confronted with easy stereotyping and therefore lack support and promotion of the subject. Although design teachers share a positive, constructive and impassioned approach to design teaching, they (for the most part) have not benefitted from professional developments in design teaching.
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Paying it forward: Practicing Scholarship of Engagement in Design Education
- 1. PHEIG&2014& Paying&it&forward:&Practicing&Scholarship&of&Engagement&in& Design&Education&& 14&November&2014& Franci&Cronje&&&Carla&Enslin
- 2. ➔ Why Community Engagement (CE) in Higher Education? ➔ Platform 6
- 3. Where&in&the&world? • ‘Today&a&shocking&percentage&of&the&nation’s& preschoolers&are&malnourished&and&educationally& impoverished’& • ‘thirtyNfive&percent&of&the&children&who&enrolled&in& school&the&year&before&were,&according&to&the& teachers,&linguistically,&emotionally,&or&physically& deficient’& • ‘Today&our&nation’s&schools&are&being&called&upon&to& do&what&homes&and&churches&and&communities& have¬&been&able&to&accomplish’
- 4. Where&in&the&world? • Schools&with&leaky&roofs,&broken&equipment&and& furniture& • Textbooks&more&than&ten&years&old& • Falling&plaster& • Armed&guards&at&the&door& • Teachers&spending&own&money&on&teaching&supplies& • Expecting&to&teach&31&hours&per&week&with&no&prep& time& • Class&sizes&40+&instead&of&recommended&17
- 5. Where&in&the&world? • ‘I&become&convinced&that&it’s¬&the&schools& that&have&failed;&it’s&the&partnership&that&has& failed’.& • &‘and&we&wonder&why&we’re¬&worldNclass&in& math&and&science,&or&in&anything,&for&that& matter’.
- 6. Where&in&the&world? • ‘I&become&convinced&that&it’s¬&the&schools& that&have&failed;&it’s&the&partnership&that&has& failed’.& • &‘and&we&wonder&why&we’re¬&worldNclass&in& math&and&science,&or&in&anything,&for&that& matter’.& Ernest&Boyer&(Scholarship&Reconsidered),&1995
- 7. Why&CE&an&Higher&Education?& • ‘Making&knowledge&useful’&(Boyer&1995)& • ‘I’m&convinced&that&colleges&and&universities& must&become&more&actively&engaged&with&the& nation’s&schools’&(Boyer&1995)
- 8. Scholarship&Reconsidered ‘..&Having&professors&become&what&Donald&Schön of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has called “reflective practitioners”, moving from theory to practice, and from practice back to theory, which in fact makes theory, then, more authentic – something we’re learning in education and medicine, in law and architecture, and all the rest.’ Boyer 1995
- 9. Reflective&practice • Practitioners&should&move&between&theory&and& practice&as&a&matter&of&course&(action&research)
- 10. Academics&should¬&only& acquire&skills,&but&pass&them& on&too Houghton&et&al&in&Bender&2008
- 11. South&African&voices& • ‘There&should&be&becer&teacher&training;&reN&opening&of&teacher& training&colleges&could&train&more&teachers’&(Matshidiso& Modisaotsile&2012:&6).& • ‘That&the&concept&of&community&engagement,&as&set&out&in&the&1997& White&Paper&for&Higher&Educaeon,&be&revisited&and&revised&in&the& light&of&subsequent&experience.&The&objeceve&of&a&new&policy& framework&should&be&to&align&engagement&with&the&third§or& (that&part&of&civil&society&located&between&the&family,&the&state&and& the&market)&with&universiees’&core&funceons&of&teaching&and& research’&(Hall&2010:&48). ●11
- 12. What&makes&a&CE&initiative&effective? • Relevant& • Context,&mission,&strategic&plans&and&objectives& • It&should¬&be&seen&as&a&niceNtoNhave&addNon
- 13. Aspects&of&a&communityNengaged&university ❑ Supportive&environment&& ❑ Curriculum&supports&engagement& ❑ Balanced&partnership&and&unified&cause between&role&players& ❑ Meaningful&involvement&and&collaboration&between&all& partners& ❑ InterN&&&multidisciplinary&work&as&focus&in&strategic&alliances& ❑ Strict&quality&management&by&planning&and&reflection&& ❑ CE&is&researched,&publicised&and&celebrated Bender 2008
- 14. The&PHE&advantage ❏ Less&‘ivory&tower’& ❏ Less&visible&barriers& ❏ City&based&campuses
- 15. Help&needed Leadership& Community Education& Department Academic
- 16. ‘Technical&Maths&to&be&introduced&in&South&African&Basic&Education’& (The&Times,&November&12,&2014)& ! ! ! ! Teaching&skills Newsflash
- 17. The&problem&with&Design&Education ! Design&as&school&subject& ! Stereotyped& ‘soft&subject’& Teachers&challenged:&lack&of&training&and& experience&in&the&practice&of&design
- 18. ‘Ultimately,&the&scholarship&of&engagement& means&creating&a&special&climate&in&which& the&academic&and&civic&cultures& communicate&more&continuously&and&more& creatively&with&each&other,&helping&to& enlarge&what&anthropologist&Clifford&Geertz& describes&as&the&universe&of&human& discourse&and&enriching&the&quality&of&life& for&all&of&us’&(Boyer&1995).
- 22. 430&NCS&Schools&in&the&Western&Cape& 88&offer&Design&(Grades&10&to&12)& 24&schools&participated&& & & & &
- 25. #1&A&unified&cause The&next&generation&of&design&thinkers&and&practitioners& & & & & & & &&&&&& & & & & &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& systems&design,&environmental&and&spatial&design,&& communication&design,&service&and&interaction&design,&& product&and&surface&design&–&“design'is'all'around'us”
- 33. #5&Primary&research,&academic&papers&and&public& discourse (visibility,&credibility&and&strategic& direction)&
- 35. thank&you
- 36. References Bender, G. (2008). Exploring conceptual models for community engagement at Higher Education Institutions in South Africa: Conversation. Perspectives in Education, 26(1), 81-95. Boyer, E. L. (1996). The scholarship of engagement. Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 18-33. Brukardt, M. J., Holland, B., Percy, S. L., & Zimpher, N. (2004). Calling the question: Is higher education ready to commit to community engagement. A wingspread statement. Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee Idea Office, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Kruss, G., (2012) Reconceptualising engagement: a conceptual framework for analysing university interaction with external social partners, South African Review of Sociology, 43:2, 5-26, DOI: 10.1080/21528586.2012.694240 Modisaotsile, B. M. (2012). The failing standard of basic education in South Africa. Policy Brief, AISA, 72, 1-7. Wilson Akpan , Gary Minkley & Jayshree Thakrar (2012) In search of a developmental university: community engagement in theory and practice, South African Review of Sociology, 43:2, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/21528586.2012.694239