Design education is the teaching of theory and application in the design of products, services, and environments, and focuses on the development of both particular and general skills for designing. It is primarily orientated to preparing higher education students for professional design practice, and based around project work and studio or atelier teaching methods, while general education uses design methods to improve materials for teachers and students.
Design education’s origins can be seen as far back as the 18th century despite not being referred to as such until the 1970s. [1] Despite the contrast between the Arts and Sciences, the use of design principles to scientific matters would theoretically allow for scientific and mathematical subjects to be approach practically without taking away from the subject matter itself. Research into the usage of design methodology in various fields would see its incorporation into general education as methods for teaching and a subject to be taught.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was regarded as the “father of manual training”, [2] in regards to his beliefs that manual work and general education would provide a better foundation than just a one sided education. [2] Pestalozzi also believed in adherence to the structure of the senses and their usage in obtaining and processing knowledge, which he believed children should do to gain a well rounded sense of the world. [3]
Friedrich Fröbel would implement Pestalozzi’s ideals in a known vocational way, as he would go on to found the Kindergarten as an educational institution. His approach to Pestalozzi’s methodology would be from his own religious and practical point of view, [4] where he sought to assist in the development of early age children, who believed to be inherently create and best express themselves through action. Fröbel’s concept Kindergarten persists as both an institution and a set of ideals.
Uno Cygnaeus would develop the Sloyd Pedagogy in response to research done on the principles of Fröbel and Pestalozzi. [4] The system would regard each student as an individual that would be taught woodcraft in relation their general education. Otto Salomon and Aksel Mikkelsen would implement these systems in Sweden and Denmark respectively, with Mikkelsen and Salomon training teachers from various nations to teach Sloyd in their home countries. [4]
L. Bruce Archer was a researcher and professor at the Royal College of Art who would become recognized for his designs. Archer’s utilization of systematic methods, in regards to industrial design, would coincide with his belief that design is a third pillar education. His tenure at the Royal College of Art would see him and his team being converted into the Department of Design Research, where they were able to take contract work researching, developing and implementing designs. In 1971 the Department would pivot from strictly research to formally educating postgraduate students in design research. Archer’s advocacy to the Department for Education and Science for the inclusion of design education principles would see it added throughout the school's curriculum. Use of design in education at the higher level would eventually lead to the curriculum being adopted across the United Kingdom. [5] [6] In his lifetime Arthur would commit to his belief that a “designerly” way of approaching scholarly and scientific subjects exists, that is both unique and as powerful when compared to current academia. [7]
There are also broader forms of higher education in design studies and design thinking, and design also features as a part of general education, for example within Design and Technology and Engineering Technology.
For more information see: Design research
Various methods of design education would be up to debate and discussion, International Conference on Design and Technology Research (IDATER) was one forum for this purpose which ran from 1988 to 2001. The purpose of these conferences was to create a standard for studying and analyzing the curriculum for design and technology that was beginning to emerge in England with the onset of the 1990s. [5]
Institutions for design education date back to the nineteenth century. The Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry was founded in 1818, followed by the United Kingdom's Government School of Design (1837), Konstfack in Sweden (1844), and Rhode Island School of Design in the United States (1877). The German art and design school Bauhaus, founded in 1919, greatly influenced modern design education. [8]
In 1970, in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore there were no design schools. However, as of the early 2000s there are more than 23 design schools within the three Asia countries. [9]
Progressive education, or educational progressivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the early-industrial university and strongly differentiated by social class. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in modern, post-industrial experience. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:
Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual differences in intelligence, cognitive development, affect, motivation, self-regulation, and self-concept, as well as their role in learning. The field of educational psychology relies heavily on quantitative methods, including testing and measurement, to enhance educational activities related to instructional design, classroom management, and assessment, which serve to facilitate learning processes in various educational settings across the lifespan.
A teaching method is a set of principles and methods used by teachers to enable student learning. These strategies are determined partly on subject matter to be taught, partly by the relative expertise of the learners, and partly by constraints caused by the learning environment. For a particular teaching method to be appropriate and efficient it has take into account the learner, the nature of the subject matter, and the type of learning it is supposed to bring about.
Johann Friedrich Herbart was a German philosopher, psychologist and founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline.
Alternative education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. Many educational alternatives emphasize small class sizes, close relationships between students and teachers and a sense of community.
Pedagogy, most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how knowledge and skills are imparted in an educational context, and it considers the interactions that take place during learning. Both the theory and practice of pedagogy vary greatly as they reflect different social, political, and cultural contexts.
Johannes Itten was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus school. Together with German-American painter Lyonel Feininger and German sculptor Gerhard Marcks, under the direction of German architect Walter Gropius, Itten was part of the core of the Weimar Bauhaus.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach.
Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities. He created the concept of the kindergarten and coined the word, which soon entered the English language as well. He also developed the educational toys known as Froebel gifts.
Design research was originally constituted as primarily concerned with ways of supporting and improving the process of design, developing from work in design methods. The concept has been expanded to include research embedded within the process of design and research-based design practice, research into the cognitive and communal processes of designing, and extending into wider aspects of socio-political, ethical and environmental contexts of design. It retains a sense of generality, recognising design as a creative act common to many fields, and aimed at understanding design processes and practices quite broadly.
A didactic method is a teaching method that follows a consistent scientific approach or educational style to present information to students. The didactic method of instruction is often contrasted with dialectics and the Socratic method; the term can also be used to refer to a specific didactic method, as for instance constructivist didactics.
Uno Cygnaeus was a Finnish clergyman, educator, and chief inspector of the country's school system. He is considered the father of the Finnish public school system. His accomplishments also include the initiation of high-class teacher training, emphasizing the importance of women's education and most importantly introducing the use of crafts as a mandatory subject in the school curriculum.
Francis Wayland Parker was a pioneer of the progressive school movement in the United States. He believed that education should include the complete development of an individual — mental, physical, and moral. John Dewey called him the "father of progressive education." He worked to create curriculum that centered on the whole child and a strong language background. He was against standardization, isolated drill and rote learning. He helped to show that education was not just about cramming information into students' minds, but about teaching students to think for themselves and become independent people.
Social pedagogy describes a holistic and relationship-centred way of working in care and educational settings with people across the course of their lives. In many countries across Europe, it has a long-standing tradition as a field of practice and academic discipline concerned with addressing social inequality and facilitating social change by nurturing learning, well-being and connection both at an individual and community level. The term 'pedagogy' originates from the Greek pais (child) and agein, with the prefix 'social' emphasising that upbringing is not only the responsibility of parents but a shared responsibility of society. Social pedagogy has therefore evolved in somewhat different ways in different countries and reflects cultural and societal norms, attitudes and notions of education and upbringing, of the relationship between the individual and society, and of social welfare provision for its marginalised members. Social pedagogues work within a range of different settings, from early years through adulthood to working with disadvantaged adult groups as well as older people. To achieve a holistic perspective within each of these settings, social pedagogy draws together theories and concepts from related disciplines such as sociology, psychology, education, philosophy, medical sciences, and social work.
Sloyd, also known as educational sloyd, is a system of handicraft-based education started by Uno Cygnaeus in Finland in 1865. The system was further refined and promoted worldwide, and was taught in the United States until the early 20th century. It is still taught as a compulsory subject in Finnish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian schools.
The Ulm School of Design was a college of design based in Ulm, Germany. It was founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and Max Bill, the latter being first rector of the school and a former student at the Bauhaus. The HfG quickly gained international recognition by emphasizing the holistic, multidisciplinary context of design beyond the Bauhaus approach of integrating art, craft and technology. The subjects of sociology, psychology, politics, economics, philosophy and systems-thinking were integrated with aesthetics and technology. During HfG operations from 1953–1968, progressive approaches to the design process were implemented within the departments of Product Design, Visual Communication, Industrialized Building, Information and Filmmaking.
Friedrich (von) Beust, German soldier, revolutionary and political activist and Swiss reform pedagogue, was the son of Prussian Major Karl Alexander von Beust. Beust was born in the Odenwald, in whose great forests, as a young man, he observed Nature in her large and small aspects and collected her creatures. He learned to ride a horse in the royal stables. In 1834, he became an ensign in the 17th Prussian regiment. Under the guidance of a captain, he drew maps in his free time. He entered the division school at Düsseldorf where he was especially interested in geography, which students of Carl Ritter were teaching. He continued his studies of cartography and also science, especially anatomy. In 1845, he was ordered to Fortress Minden, where he came to the conclusion he could not fit into Prussian military discipline, bitterly resigned in 1848, and became a political activist.
Johann Ernst Plamann was a German child educator. He based his work on the ideas of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. Among his pupils was future German chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
Herbartianism (Her-bart-ti-an-ism) is an educational philosophy, movement, and method loosely based on the educational and pedagogical thought of German educator Johann Friedrich Herbart, and influential on American school pedagogy of the late 19th century as the field worked towards a science of education. Herbart advocated for instruction that introduced new ideas in discrete steps. About a quarter-century after his death, Herbart's ideas were expanded in two German schools of thought that were later embodied in the method used at a practice school in Jena, which attracted educationists from the United States. Herbartianism was later replaced by new pedagogies, such as those of John Dewey.
The Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus was founded in 1882. It was one of the first institutions in Germany which started to train early childhood teachers, as well as one of the first where women could get a professional training in Berlin. It practiced a belief in teaching children as individuals.