DEFSA Design Education Conference 2013

i Editors Dr Susan Giloi Mr Herman Botes The conference proceedings is published by the Design Education Forum of Southern Africa (DEFSA) on the following website: www.defsa.org.za. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily of DEFSA. Papers are published as submitted by the authors, after they have considered and included recommendations from peer reviewers. ISBN 978-0-620-78459-7 Title: #Decolonise!: DEFSA 14th National Conference Proceedings © 2017 Design Education Forum of Southern Africa All rights reserved. The materials published in this Conference Proceedings may be reproduced for instructional and non-commercial use, providing that proper reference to the source is acknowledged. Any use for commercial purposes must be submitted to the chief-editors. DEFSA contact details Dr Susan Giloi Mr Herman Botes DEFSA President (2017-2019) DEFSA President-elect (2017-2019) [email protected] [email protected] ii Introduction Conference overview and publication of proceedings The 14th National DEFSA Conference was hosted by Tshwane University of Technology and Inscape Education Group at Freedom Park Pretoria from the 27th to the 29th September 2017. The theme of the conference #Decolonise! Design educators reflecting on the call for the decolonisation of education, challenged design academics and postgraduate students to scrutinise their educational practice in relation to calls for the decolonisation of higher education. The initial call for abstracts published on the DEFSA web site and circulated to member institutions resulted in the submission of 64 abstracts of which 40 were accepted. Over the two days of the conference 38 presenters representing eleven institutions presented papers. The third day of the conference was dedicated to a workshop addressing practice-based research and the evaluation and funding thereof. Over the three days 95 delegates and presenters attended the conference and workshop. All abstracts and papers for the conference and subsequent publication were selected using a double- blind peer review process. The double-blind review process ensured that both authors and reviewers remained anonymous during the process. Prior to the conference the submitted papers were peer reviewed by a group of academics drawn from 16 institutions representing the disciplines of Architecture, Communication Design, Education, Fashion Design, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Jewellery Design, Interior Design, Photography and Visual Studies. A list of the peer reviewers is included in the Conference Proceedings. Authors received feedback in the form of peer review reports and corrections to papers could be implemented for the Conference Proceedings. Ultimately 26 papers have been published in the 14th National DEFSA Conference Proceedings. Forward by Editors Herman Botes and Susan Giloi As reflected in the presentations at the DEFSA conference and the papers selected for these proceedings, #Decolonisation offered a fertile theme, concept and related theories for authors to debate and engage with. The calls to decolonise higher education that have emerged over the past few years across the world and especially in South Africa provided academics with a critical point from which to reflect on design education as it has been, and to look forward to what design education might become. Authors provided positive interpretations of how the decolonisation concept could be applied to their own design education practices, as well as institutional practices, in order to strengthen the practice and make it more open to students from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Through the lens of Decolonisation authors considered curriculum design, pedagogy and assessment as well as the broader role and objectives of higher education structures and systems. For instance, is it enough to educate graduates who are employable in a highly commercial industry, or should graduates have more holistic skills that will equip them to make a positive impact on a world plagued by complex problems. In scrutinising their own educational practice authors clearly illustrate that education is never neutral and that current education systems skew access (both physical and epistemic), accentuate the gap between school and university level design studies, and emphasise employability in a highly commercial industry rather than addressing local needs for entrepreneurship and innovative problem solving. The impact of the colonial past on access and equity as well as the entrenched power dynamics within institutions and faculties are part of the looking back at were design education comes from. Many authors used the Decolonisation of education as an opportunity to offer alternate objectives for design education that align more strongly with community, empathy, social responsibility, emancipation, collaboration and intentional design. With this shift in focus for design education, comes the potential for design students to learn to become ethical, empathetic, critical and moral co-designers rather than mere operators of technology driven by a profit motive. iii Authors clearly see part of their responsibility in introducing a decolonised curriculum, as an approach that would equip graduates to transform the existing professional design practice to incorporate socially and environmentally responsible objectives. One theme that was emphasised by the keynote speaker, Pro Dei, and echoed in a number of papers, was the consideration of a variety of forms of knowledge, accommodating multiple perspectives, histories, origins and cultures as opposed to a purely Eurocentric understanding of knowledge. Equally significant was the acknowledgement that it is not sufficient to superficially address these form of knowledge, but educators and students need to build an understanding of African indigenous knowledge systems, the history, origins, traditions, practices and principles that have formed and informed these systems. Ultimately the DEFSA conference and papers included in the proceedings create a platform for discussions and suggestions that enrich design education and individual practices. Keynote Speaker Prof Dei is considered by many as one of Canada’s foremost scholars on race and anti-racism studies. He is a widely sought after academic, researcher and community worker, whose professional and academic work has led to many Canadian and international speaking invitations in the US, Europe and Africa. Currently, he is Professor of Social Justice Education and Director of the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2017. Professor Dei is the 2015 and 2016 Carnegie African Diasporan Fellow. In August 2012, he received the honorary title of Professor Extraordinaire from the School of Education, University of South Africa (Unisa). He received the 2016 Whitworth Award for Educational Research from the Canadian Education Association (CEA), awarded to the Canadian scholar whose research and scholarship have helped shape Canadian national educational policy and practice. In June 2007, Professor Dei was installed as a traditional chief in Ghana, specifically, as the Gyaasehene of the town of Asokore, Koforidua in the New Juaben Traditional Area of Ghana. His traditional stool name is Nana Adusei Sefa Tweneboah I. iv Peer reviewers The 2017 DEFSA Conference peer review group have more than 700 years of combined experience in Higher Education. The peer review process for the 14th National DEFSA conference and publication of the conference proceedings followed two phases. In the first phase abstracts were submitted and peer reviewed in a rigorous double-blind peer review process. The peer reviews and reports were verified by the peer review committee and based on the outcomes approved abstracts were accepted into the conference and authors received feedback. In the second phase, full papers were submitted by authors and again went through a double-blind peer review process before the conference. The papers selected and approved through this process, and which were presented at the conference, are then published in this conference proceedings. The double-blind peer review process ensures that each abstract and paper is reviewed by two people, and that authors and reviewers who are experts in their field, remain anonymous. Name Surname Qualification From Position Herman Botes MAVA TUT HoD: Dept of Visual Comm (acting) Amanda Breytenbach BArch, MBA, PrArch UJ Vice Dean Yolandi Burger M-Tech: Design IEG Lecturer Bruce S Cadle M Tech GD NMU Principal Lecturer & PG Prog Leader Angus Donald Campbell MTech: Industr Design UJ HoD: Industrial Design Piers Carey MTech DUT Lecturer Walter Chipambwa B.Eng ChinhUT Lecturer Nicolene Coetzee MTech VUT Lecturer Rudi de Lange PhD TUT Associate Professor Mary Duker MTech NMU Principal Lecturer Inge Economou Masters NMU Lecturer and programme leader Susan Giloi PhD IEG Provost Brenden Gray MAFA UJ HoD: Graphic Design Peter Hugh Harrison MTech IEG Content Developer and Lecturer Christine Gail Henning Mint(prof) IEG Online Academic Manager Philippa Kethro PhD DUT Lecturer Runette Kruger PhD Visual Studies TUT HoD Fine and Applied Arts Thinus Mathee NHD Photo VUT Senior Lecturer Nailejileji Naila Mollel-Matodzi MTech Private Private Jolanda Morkel BArch CPUT Senior Lecturer Margot Müir Mtech GD NMU Lecturer Allan John Munro PhD VUT Research co-ordinator: Art & Design Farieda Nazier

Load more