craft based teaching and learning

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  • 8/18/2019 Craft Based Teaching and Learning

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    Seldom does an opportunity arise that engages such diverse thinkers,leaders, educators, individuals and institutions. The World DesignCapital Cape Town 201 o!ers this occasion. This is not necessarily thecase with all capitals o" design. The City o" Cape Town has taken anactive, involved, and engaged interest in this #uncture o" design, as the

    opportunity to Live Design! Transform Life! $gainst this %ackdrop,theyellowtree.org is launching its campaign "or 201, looking at andreporting on evidence o" trans"ormative principles and practices thathave educational or curricula impact, as re&ected across a num%er o"the almost '0 pro#ects in the World Design Capital 201 (WDC201)programme.

    theyellowtree.org*s interest resides in transformative principles andideas and how these may either illustrate, or contri%ute towards, newand innovative practices in curriculum development. We hope that ourpro#ect will serve as a mechanism to ensure "uture sustaina%ility and

    multiplication o" this valua%le pro#ect collateral "rom WDC201. Wealso hope to encourage conversation, open up dialogue, and supportde%ate amongst stakeholders and practitioners, policymakers andstudents, creatives and the world o" %usiness.

    +ike Thoms and have collectively engaged with curriculum policy,criti-ue, de%ate and design over a num%er o" years and we hope to usethis eperience, to work with the WDC201 pro#ects and theirprinciples, ideas, criti-ues, possi%ilities and evolution. This opportunemoment o!ers occasions to translate or codi"y the underlyingprinciples into new "orms o" educational relay, whether as curriculumprinciples, contemporary policies or potential curriculum designs "or"uture delivery. The WDC201 pro#ects o!er a uni-ue occasion toengage with key stakeholders, wider design audiences and a glo%alplat"orm, and one that can simultaneously contri%ute to innovation,eplore critical social issues, and trans"orm lives.

    n the development o" the campaign, it is our aim to contetualise theopportunities and de%ates, to raise diverse and critical -uestions, andto re&ect on the pro#ects and their teaching / learning practices. Weendeavour to map and appraise collateral developed throughengaged, design thinking, during WDC201 "or "uture curricula. n"uture posts, we will cover some o" these eciting WDC201 pro#ects,

    as well as looking more closely at the concept and practices o" designthinking, in relation to 21st century knowledge creation anddissemination, knowledge production, knowledge "orms and knowledgerelations.

    ur 201 Campaign re&ects theyellowtree.org*s "our guidingprinciples "or the ongoing research and curatorial pro#ect, namelySocial ustice, nnovation, Colla%oration / Democratisation, and the

    http://www.wdccapetown2014.com/http://www.wdccapetown2014.com/https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/DesignCapital/Pages/default.aspxhttp://www.theyellowtree.org/about-us/http://www.theyellowtree.org/about-us/http://www.theyellowtree.org/about-us/https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/DesignCapital/Pages/default.aspxhttp://www.theyellowtree.org/about-us/http://www.theyellowtree.org/about-us/http://www.wdccapetown2014.com/http://www.wdccapetown2014.com/

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    development o" new digital $rchives / 3esources. Does your pro#ectrecognise the potential "or any o" these principles4 5aving %eenselected as a winning concept %y WDC201, does your pro#ectstrongly "ocus on socially responsive design4 n what ways does yourpro#ect recognise and mo%ilise Cape Town*s considera%le design

    resources towards addressing critical issues4 n what ways do youenvisage your pro#ect to engage with the design thinking, to activateand trans"orm4

    t is the City " Cape Town*s aim to deal with past im%alances andine-ualities across three %road themes

    re%uild Cape Town through community cohesion

    reconnect the city through in"rastructural enhancement

    reposition the city "or the knowledge economy

    theyellowtree.org supports the slogan 67ive design. Trans"orm 7i"e.8Contact us i" you are interested to share or contri%ute to this power"ulmoment in the lives o" every Capetonian, "ellow South $"ricans, andglo%al thought9leaders and citi:ens.

    Critical Thinking The ;ey to a success"ul education.

    $s a lecturer in higher education, the most commonly asked -uestions am asked relate to the scope o" the net test, pro#ect or eam

    students are "acing. What they are actually asking o" course is "or meto tell them eactly which parts o" the curriculum they need to study,and the types o" -uestion they are likely to %e asked.

     This really means that students %elieve that a piece o" paper with theword Diploma or Degree printed at the top is a passport to a %etter li"e.n reality, it means nothing, %ecause i" the trans"er o" knowledge ismade (and assessed) through a parrot learning style, even an $student is unlikely to %e a%le to apply that knowledge in the workplace< and that is what really matters.

    $t =oston +edia 5ouse, many su%#ects are what could %e descri%ed as

    >cra"t9%ased*. Students study ournalism, ?raphic Design, $dvertisingand @3 amongst others 9 su%#ects that re-uire a hands9on, practicallearning style. t is no coincidence that $dvertising and @3 companiescall themselves practitioners.

     $ key element o" this mode o" educating is critical thinking and this issadly lacking in many o" our students. $dli aco%s, author, #ournalistand "ellow lecturer %elieves this lack o" critical thinking relates directly

    http://www.theyellowtree.org/#contactlinkhttp://www.theyellowtree.org/#contactlink

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    to the thesis o" >Citi:en and Su%#ect*, well documented %y +ahmood+amdani, in his 1AAB %ook o" the same name.1  The

    1 +amdani, +. 1AAB. Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and theLegacy of Late Colonialism. @rinceton niversity @ress.