Centre For Research Development - University of Brighton
Research News - Edition 11 2005

DETM: The future of design education

Lawrence Zeegen (School of Arts and Communication) recently attended Design Education: Tradition and Modernity (DETM) 05, the first international design conference of its kind, at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India, presenting his paper It's not the Winning: it's the Taking Part.
NID, host to DETM 2005, attracts candidates from across India and the continent. The institute offers professional programmes in Product Design, Furniture and Interior Design, Ceramic & Glass Design, Textile Design, Apparel Design & Merchandising, Lifestyle Accessory Design, Toy Design & Development, Exhibition Design, Graphic Design, Animation Film Design, Film & Video Communications, New Media Design, Information & Digital Design, Software & User Interface Design and Strategic Design Management.

Design Education: Tradition and Modernity, the first international conference of its kind in the Indian sub-continent, invited 60 speakers from around the globe to participate. The over-arching theme for the conference encompassed aspects of design education across the world that refiected a diverse spectrum of economic, regional and social dynamics. Whilst many traditions in design education continue to incorporate regional aspirations many design educators, students and researchers are breaking regional barriers and are crossing continents in search of new sensibilities, alternative methodologies and collaborative opportunities, the 'global village' has become a reality due to technological developments in recent years.

Dr. Darlie O Koshy, Executive Director for NID, in his opening remarks stated that 'the 21st century has been ushered in with a refreshing change in the world economic order. The Asian economies, after years of sluggish growth and diffidence, are now riding on a new wave of impressive economic performances and growth ambitions.' He went on to reinforce this message 'Asia is emerging as the new manufacturing hub of the world and China is euphemistically called the 'factory to the world'. Asian economies are slowly but surely growing out of their domestic mindset and are rapidly integrating with a globalising world'. Design education must continue to adapt to global changes, Koshey went on to call for 'a fresh approach, shaking out the old - like the tails of lizards by themselves, with an open mind towards new academic structures, curricula, integration of design and technology and adoption of new teaching and learning pedagogy and methodologies'.

The three-day event saw academics representing institutes from countries across the globe. Speakers came from countries that included Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Botswana, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and USA.

Zeegen presented his paper on the first day of the conference focussing on issues faced by today's design educators. The opening statement of Zeegen's paper reflected the broader topic he proceeded to cover ­ 'Design education can't win. Or so it seems. Sat between a rock and hard place, the best courses in design education seek to create forward-thinking, motivated and talented designers with a thirst for knowledge, enquiring minds and ecologically and socially responsible attitudes' he stated. 'On the outside, looking in, the design industry rarely acknowledges or demands such positive attributes from graduates entering the work place, preferring to seek the short term fixes of strong computing skills, current design practice awareness and the ability to work hard for long hours for little pay without question' he added.

Zeegen's paper proceeded to discuss the issues facing design educators from education itself ­ 'Matters may be no better from within: many educational institutions often placing more value on issues such as admission and retention rates, external accreditation and health and safety monitoring than providing a conducive learning environment' he stated. The paper continued - 'too many courses in design have been trapped in a stranglehold of conformity, trapped by assessment regulations and inflexible modular structures, trapped by systems that work against and hinder rather than encourage and support the flow of creativity. Breaking boundaries, challenging rules and attempting new, untried and untested methods can move knowledge and understanding of the discipline forward; taking risks is integral to successful design education. And that is risk-taking by staff as well as students'.

DETM 05 received national interest in India, reported upon by national television news channels and newspapers. The Times of India noted that the conference had attracted over '300 design practitioners and educationists from around the world'. Koshy's hopes for modern design education creating 'Global' designers had moved a little closer by the close of the conference.