Design education symposia “2016 dpi”
Under the name “2016 dpi”, a design education symposium will be held at the University of Vechta for the third time in 2016. In recent years, these symposia have attracted renowned experts from the fields of design practice, design, art and work education as well as from the field of extracurricular design education to the University of Vechta. The design pedagogy symposium “2016 dpi” will open up this discourse on the examination of design as an educational science and education policy topic in order to take a closer look at design as a content and medium/instrument of education. The aim is to expand the academic network in German-speaking countries and to enter into an educational policy debate.
Design as an educational perspective; design as content
Design and consequently also design education do not only refer to a consumer-critical examination of the designed world of things. The added value of design and design education arises when design is used as a method, as a didactic process of designing, as a creative solution to problems and as a perspective for thinking and acting. The possibility of seeing design processes as a means for an interdisciplinary approach to various issues is also of high quality in terms of teaching and school development.
It’s less about forcing thought and action into design algorithms and more about enabling innovation in general. The core of the educational mission here also lies in “… acting as an ‘empowerer,’ enabling others to experience their creative ‘magic moment,’ conveying to them the sense of joy at having accomplished something extraordinary (even if only by their own standards), at having invented, discovered, or created something special, and at discovering the power within themselves [to] discover…” (James Skone) that can unlock these possibilities.
Design topics are already anchored in many school curricula. Due to the federal structure of the German educational landscape, efforts and activities to promote or practice design education or design topics as an educational component vary considerably in the individual federal states. There is no consensus on the content or methodology of how design should be taught.
Design as an educational perspective; education as an object of design
The need for design is growing in many areas of society. This need extends beyond the generally recognized field of artistic design to numerous areas of social development, e.g. education. Education experts suspect a connection between the lack of motivation of many pupils and the prevailing school systems, which were originally developed for the mindsets and structures of industrial societies. In today’s world of increasing complexity (globalization, mediatization, knowledge society, etc.), there is a growing need for new skills for sustainability and connectivity.
The partners in the research project“Design to Improve Life, Education”go one step further and point out that an understanding of global challenges and the question of how to develop ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable solutions are absolutely essential to doing justice to both meaningful education and society. Design offers unique forms of learning and teaching. It is both research and development. This enables the development of core competencies that future generations will need to responsibly address the challenges of global society, so that they can actively, independently, and sustainably help shape our future.
Against this background, the subject of design education at the University of Vechta is taking on the task of rethinking education as an object of design and initiating the discussion on the educational perspective of design with the design education symposium “2016 dpi”.
Symposium: 2016 dpi
Topic: Educational Perspectives on Design
Dates: July 1, 2016 – July 2, 2016
Location: University of Vechta
