Paradigm shift in Design Education to drive

Strategic Innovations, Sustainable Solutions and

Social Change
a b b
Rocha, Hugo ; Ferreira, Ana Margarida ; de Azevedo, Jefferson
a
Professor at Instituto Federal Fluminense, Brasil; Ph.D. Student at IADE – Universidade
Europeia, Portugal – [email protected]
b
Coordinator of BA Design & ID:COLAB, UNIDCOM, IADE-U
[email protected]
c
Professor and Dean at Instituto Federal Fluminense, Brasil - [email protected]

Abstract
The present paper intends to present the early stage on a bigger attempt to
discuss design education and its role in a paradigm shift moment, pointing the
need to change how designers think and learn to face wicked problems in a
more complex society. New active methodologies will be considered in order
to promote a teaching-learning process that reinforces the construction of
new competencies, which increases students' perception of the reality that
surrounds them and makes them evident the impact of design processes and
solutions. This conceptual broadening will make them more socially
responsible agents, aware of the importance of their civic action and active
role towards innovation, social wellbeing, and Sustainability.

Keywords
Design Education, Creative Thinking, Social Innovation, Ethics, Sustainability

1 Introduction
The purpose of this research is the understanding of the role of the designer as an agent
of change towards a more sustainable society, and to develop new active teaching-
learning methodologies and strategies for this matter.

For the past decades, Design has focused on answer question based on the market
perspective. Design now is going through a moment of change. Well known for the
beatification of products, designers today are being acknowledged also by their work in

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services and organizations, as well as in complex virtual structures, such as the social
networks (Margolin, 2014).

Victor Papanek (1984), claimed that designers needed to rethink their action towards real
problems, rather than to be an element of the consumerism system. We understand that
for this mindset to be established as default in the design sector the proper way to success
is by focusing on the design education. Thus, a closer analysis of the design educational
system seems necessary, in order to understand its current structure and teaching
methods. As important as criticizing the established system, it must be considered the
educational projects and initiatives that have been seeking answers to the problems in
question to understand what must change in traditional institutions for the desired
results.

Due to the early stages of the research, this paper presents an initial and brief literature
review, research premise, a methodology proposal intended to achieve measurable
results, and final considerations.

2 Literature Review
2.1 Design Education overview
There is now, a vast discussion over how education, in general, must evolve (Assadourian,
2017; Bender, 2014; Furniss, 2015; Prior, Shen, & Karamanoglu, 2007). The world and its
social and economic dynamics have changed, bringing a new level of complexity with it
(Fry, 2008; Mau & Institute Without Boundaries, 2004). Given the cyclical dynamic of
societies, as presented by Ferreira (2007), we understand the importance to rethink the
educational practices for design to better respond to a new social structure and
challenges.

Within some academic realities comes an inability to adapt quickly, which raises the
question whether it is the ideal environment for creative people (Furniss, 2015). "Teaching
is still very out of date, 50 years out of date" (Hunter as cited in Furniss, 2015, p. 31). This
outdated format also shows it at Design Higher Education, that in some cases has changed
little since its formal establishment. The school has become a social inadequate institution
(Silveira, 2016). History of design education shows a tendency to replicate a model
designed at the beginning of the twentieth century without critical thinking and adequacy
of local issues and unable to evolve over time (Cardoso, 2012; Couto, 2008; Freitas, 1999).

The design sector has drifted apart from the limited skills taught by the design schools.
Having to deal with professionals that come from clearly outdated school benches, the
industry started to take the matter into action, to make available the designer that is
needed for today's market. “Institutions are not producing the creative talent that is

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required, and is taking the situation into its own hands. It is recruiting from abroad and
creating independent schools" (Furniss, 2015, p. 30).

2.2 Paradigm change in design

Design critics highlight the necessity of urgent change. Many authors (Assadourian, 2017;
Dawson & Oliveira, 2017; Manzini, 2011; Silveira, 2016) point to the crucial skills of a
designer that must be involved not in creating for today’s world, but assuming a
positioning of helping to design the world in which we will all live tomorrow.

In order to understand that we must acknowledge that we are under a paradigm shift as
stated by Stebbing (2015, p. 24)

“In the old paradigm design was characterized by: contributing to and promoting
consumerism, obsolescence (Packard, 1967), commerce, wealth and waste; was
environmentally blind; and a product’s life was linear. If resources were considered
at all they were perceived of as being limitless along with economic growth.
Meanwhile, in the new paradigm, designers aspire to design for ‘quality of being’
rather than ‘quantity of having’ and with achieving a sustainable consumerism. This
entails a circular use of finite resources due to environmental awareness and the
aim of securing a sustainable future. I posit that this total contradiction between
the old and the new design paradigms is the fundamental ‘anomaly’ which defines
the paradigm shift in design activity.”

2.3 Design education as a gateway for change

Under this perspective of change, education must play a big role by understanding that
“many new educational priorities must emerge: ecoliteracy [sic], moral education, systems
thinking, and critical thinking, to name a few" (Assadourian, 2017, p. 30).

Training someone to be a designer implies on providing students with tools and strategies
to question the current status quo, increasing their skills in thinking and developing design
proposals for a better world. Designers today work on organizational structure and social
problems, on interaction, processes, services, and human experiences. Many problems
involve complex social and political issues. (Dawson & Oliveira, 2017; Manzini, 2011;
Norman, 2010)

“hoje em dia, confrontados com a crescente complexidade do contexto em que o

produto se insere, os designers devem pensar mais profundamente sobre o futuro,

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 tomando mais consciência do papel que desempenham no presente” (Margolin,
1
2014, p. 30).

"Education for designers (like nearly all education) is based on learning skills,
nourishing talents, understanding the concepts and theories that inform the field,
and, finally, acquiring a philosophy. It is unfortunate that our design schools
proceed from wrong assumptions. The skills we teach are too often related to
processes and working methods of an age that has ended. The philosophy is an
equal mixture of self-indulgent and self-expressive bohemian individualism and a
materialism transmitting this biased information is more than half a century out of
date” (Papanek, 1984, p. 285).

Design schools must bring to life professionals that are aware of its social role and impact,
contribute to solutions for complex problems, being a powerful agent in the transition
towards sustainability (Manzini, 2011). It cannot continue to seek the current path,
training a large number of professionals with the same market indication (Leite, 2006;
Prior et al., 2007).

2.4 Possibilities for change

“Education is a process in which the environment changes the
learner, and the learner changes the environment. In other
words, both are interactive.”(Papanek, 1984, p. 287)

There are successful educational projects in progress (Alves, 2016; Assadourian, 2017).
Those experiences need to be taken into account and studied in the attempt to bring new
approach to design education and design in general. For a complete proposition on that
matter, it is essential to find/develop new disruptive – yet promising – education methods
that points to differetn design solutions, keeping in mind the necessary skills and mindset
for new paradigms already in course.

Nature of design is usually based on problem-solving (Lawson, 2005). Thus, project-based

learning methods (Bender, 2014) must be considered as a powerful tool to develop viable
solutions addressing complexity and society, building a strong ethical professional with
actual awareness of the responsibilities and impact of his/her creation outcome, as well as
providing an opportunity to real engagement and basis for critical thinking.

1
“nowadays, confronted by the growing complexity of context that a product is part,
designers must think deeply about the future, being aware of their role in the present”
(translation by author)

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The work still to be done includes a deeper understanding of contemporary design
education, new education technologies, the role of the learning environment, and develop
a teaching/learning methodology for an optimum outcome, repurposing design in the face
of a new paradigm.

3 Research Premise
The present research is based on the premise that a designer needs to become more
sensitive to the current sustainability issues – social, environmental, and economical –
faced in the world today, and act as an agent of change, supported in cultural context.
Designers must be aware of their impact on society when developing new products,
system or services. One possible way to success on this endeavor passes by rethinking
design education, where: Students must be solving problems related to their local realities
and face real problems; The local communities must be part of a co-design process;
Different courses – when necessary – must work in favor of the projects, providing
specialized knowledge to the solution of problems and clarifying the complex
interdisciplinary reality of the world and its dynamics.

4 Methodology
In order to understand how design education can effectively help overcome the barriers
and promote a paradigm shift, our research aims on understanding how design students
may develop a more critical thinking towards sustainability, dealing with real projects that
provide social context and interaction between students and community. For comparison,
a control group of students will not be exposed to the same protocol, but only to learning
processes they are used in their universities/courses.

These different learning scenarios will be confronted in an attempt to prove that

education plays an important part in building a more sustainable future and must take the
matter into hands, making it the core of the design educational programs. Once finished,
the state of art should provide an accurate overview of the current situation as well as
indicate the mindset and complete set of skills needed for a contemporary designer to
respond to complex and wicked problems under this approach.

The study aims to analyze three main aspects: problem-solving methodologies, learning
environments, and the role of the teacher, combining them for a most effective result. To
accomplish a new teaching model, different approaches of disruptive design schools and
programs will be analyzed, through case studies, paying close attention to the three points
presented and how they are combined for the intended outcome.

After a deeper understanding, and based on the research and previous expertise gather
from case studies, a learning methodology will be designed and tested with students of

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institutions in Brazil and Portugal comparing the results to a control group to be
established during the research process and to the expected outcome.

At this early stage – sequel to the theoretical background – we are now in a pre-test
phase, using questionnaires in a first attempt to map the understanding of design
students in Brazil and Portugal towards the relationship between design and
sustainability, comparing the difference among students who have been involved with
projects of social impact previous to the testing, with those who have not. We hope to use
this information to validate some of our assumptions as well as help better shape future
research tools.

5 Objectives
Within this research context, some objectives are expected in different layers. First of all,
the study was motivated by a personal reflection after years of teaching experience. For
that, rethinking the role of the teacher as a changing player towards a new design mindset
is a crucial outcome of the entire process.

At an institutional level, having an international perspective might result in a rich

experience to help restructure design education in Brazil. Being able experience different
institutional and cultural reality should provide valuable insights on how to consider and
implement different and more sustainable practices in Brazil.

For the design dimension, we aim to provide reflexion, new methods and teaching-
learning experiences that shall contribute to a different training programs and future
professional practices. We believe that change in the professional posture might also
contribute to a better understanding of the role of design in sustainable development and
social wellbeing, as well as in businesses.

At least, we believe that with a more ethical, impactful, and responsible practice from the
design community, it will be possible to shape a better society and a world worth living in.
A world where the design community plays – once again – an important part in
strategically co-design a more sustainable future.

6 Final considerations
At the current stage of the research, where part of the state of art has been done, it is safe
to say that a time has been reached when Design must step-up and start playing a more
protagonist part in society, consolidating a more ethical and strategic actuation. In order
to that change to happen in a more significant way, we agree that design education must
be the focus of our efforts. Education is responsible for the training of future professionals
and how they might behave once they reach the market. If it goes to the wrong direction
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there is a big chance that the design sector also deviates from its purpose. Bring design
education to the right track means acknowledge its actual flaws and try to redesign its
methods in an effort to enable meaningful change.

There still work to be done on the state of art universe. A more comprehensive literature
review is on course to provide qualitative material for the next steps of the research. In
addition, we will perform interviews with key stakeholders and develop case studies on
successful educational projects that have been also seeking the answers to the presented
problems. With that done we shall be able to design and test a new training approach and
measure the results achieved with the expected mindset for the future designer.

7 References
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