When I started the Pg.Cert.I explored seven of the preparatory readings. While some papers were really interesting, others fell flat. Going forward, I will concentrate on topics that resonate with me rather than attempting to critique them all.
The paper by Michela McDonald (2019) intrigued me with the concept of the moral ecology of the design studio. I did a little research on it and found how it encompasses the moral and ethical values, practices, and relationships that shape the experiences of both instructors and students within studio settings. The idea of the studio serving not merely as a physical space or teaching method but as a dynamic ecosystem striving for various “moral goods” struck me. However, I struggle with how to foster such an environment outside the traditional physical studio setup. With my role in a project collaborating between UAL and a university in Korea, I see a valuable opportunity to leverage these reflections to enhance the moral ecology of students across countries, even in an online environment.
Fiona Peterson remarks that “the studio has become or is becoming a metaphor for the approaches to thinking and practising with pervade design pedagogies” (Orr, Shreeve, 2017, p.4). I love the idea of how the studio is more about thinking and hands-on work rather than a space. I believe that studios can act as safe spaces for experimentation, allowing students and tutors to challenge each other constructively.
However, the paper also raises a critical concern about one of the most common teaching practices, which is passing down your knowledge. This becomes a skill-based approach, “show and tell”, and expects students to perform at the same standard. Professor Justin Reich argues that schools and colleges are the most conservative social institutions because teachers instruct the way they are taught (Broadhead, Whittaker, 2022, p.9). This continuity can unintentionally sustain biases and prejudices.
Throughout my academic journey, I’ve been increasingly engaged with themes of social justice. While I appreciate UAL’s focus on discrimination and decolonisation, I’ve noticed a tendency to focus discussions primarily on the Black population, occasionally extending to Asian experiences, while other ethnicities seem overlooked. As a Latina, I’ve struggled with feelings of underrepresentation, both as a student and now as staff. This resonates with the paper’s conclusion that inequalities are often obscured by the homogenisation of social groups.
Then, the paper and all the reflections on social justice in and outside of UAL made me go down a rabbit hole of being a migrant, Latina, and a woman and LGBT and, and, and…. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie echoes in my mind; she articulates the complexities of fighting for multiple identities. Being part of various minority groups often leads to the feeling that one must champion the rights of all, which can be draining. Adichie captures the irony that advocating a black woman fighting only for women’s rights is perceived in the community as not being black enough and the other way around. (Adichie, 2014) Ultimately, this intersectionality underscores the challenge of belonging to multiple identities and striving for justice across all fronts.
References
Adichie, C.N., 2014. We Should All Be Feminists. London: Fourth Estate.
Broadhead, S. and Whittaker, R., 2022. Disaggregating the Black Student Experience. In: S. Broadhead (ed.) Access and Widening Participation in Arts Higher Education: Practice and Research. Cham: Springer, pp. 51–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97450-3_3.
McDonald, J.K. and Michela, E., 2019. The design critique and the moral goods of studio pedagogy. Design Studies, 62, pp.1-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2019.02.001.
Orr, S. and Shreeve, A., 2017. Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education: Knowledge, Values and Ambiguity in the Creative Curriculum. Milton: Taylor & Francis Group. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central [Accessed 1 January 2024].