On Studio and Practical Wisdom

Based on Reading:
Broadhead, S. (2018). Friendship, discourse and belonging in the studio: the experiences of ‘non-traditional’ students in Design Higher Education. In Continuity and Discontinuity in Learning Careers (pp. 17-28). Brill.

Reflection:

This post is meant to bring together/articulate an understanding of the remaining parameters of my research, that I believe to be relevant to discourse around friendship and belonging.

<in no particular order>
1. Pedagogical Barriers
2. The Studio Space
3. A Moral Position

Pedagogical Barriers
Samantha Broadhead (2015) in her work reflects on the work of Bernstein (1975), to talk about the barriers that prevent students from non traditional (cultural and/or social) backgrounds from being included in pedagogical practices and perhaps impeding their progress. She draws on Bernstein’s (1975) deconstruction of pedagogic practices as visible and invisible to highlight the different ways in which students from non-traditional backgrounds could be excluded from the studio.

In thinking about this project and interventions of friendship, I am making a lot of assumptions about the invisible aspects (Bernstein, 1975) of studio based learning. This includes the preconceptions about culture- we have a large body of international students and within that is a whole set of diverse individuals, each of whom might approach ideas of belonging in ways relevant to how they’ve been brought up and lived their lives. Beyond the international students, we also have home students that may/may not have the same level of access to peer-based learning.

The Studio Space
Going back to my IP Unit project and through the course of the PG Cert, I’ve been looking at the physical space of the studio and trying to frame it from the perspectives of bravery over safety (Francoise, 2019); while acknowledging the important of both those values. In my intervention for the IP unit (click here), students investigated the classroom space and thought of ways to address the issue of safety in a social-justice context. Building on some of the learnings from that intervention I’m interested in how studio space can help facilitate a feeling of togetherness for the students (Hollingsworth, 2018). Is it related solely to values such as safety and/or bravery or are there other factors that might influence the feelings of belonging in a space?

A Moral Postion
Broadhead (2018) references Aristotle’s idea of Phronesis or Pratical Wisdom (Thomson et. al, 1976) when referring to the cases of two non-traditional students and how their experiences were impacted by the actions of their colleagues/classmates and the sense of community this enabled. Practical Wisdom in the Aristotelian sense relates to the ability to act with moral fibre, making good and virtuous decisions, conscious of the self and of the other (Broadhead, 2018). It’s clear that this is an integral aspect to the formation of a sense of community and belonging. However, what role do I play in this?

As I plan and execute these interventions and seek meaning around community, it’s important for me to consider the moral position of myself and of the students in relation to me as well as each other. I suppose it’s difficult to say whether morality is something we do/should teach our students. I think there’s a fine line between the political and social aspects of morality as well. In the socio-political climate of today it can (at times) be difficult to adopt a (moral) position as our job is to enable students to question the world around them. Other times, the answer seems obvious. No matter what, there will always be a degree of bias in how we choose to exercise our morality. I’m also making assumption here that students somehow look to us as exemplars of practical wisdom (this may well not be true).

In any case – as an educator – it’s important for me to recognise that I play some part in moulding this community as well its moral values.

References:

1. Aristotle, Thomson, J. A. K., & Tredennick, H. (1976). The ethics of Aristotle: The nicomachean ethics. Penguin.
2. Bernstein, B. (1975). Class and pedagogies: Visible and invisible. Educational studies, 1(1), 23-41.
3. Hollingsworth, D. (2018) Places and Spaces and the Behavior They Create, TEDxMinneapolis. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/damaris_hollingsworth_places_and_spaces_and_the_behavior_they_create?subtitle=en&trigger=0s (Accessed: 10 July 2024).
4. Broadhead, S. (2015). Inclusion in the art and design curriculum: revisiting Bernstein and’class’ issues.
5. Broadhead, S. (2018). Friendship, discourse and belonging in the studio: the experiences of ‘non-traditional’students in Design Higher Education. In Continuity and Discontinuity in Learning Careers (pp. 17-28). Brill.
6. Francois, J. (2019) ‘Moving from Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: How “Intersectionality” can Facilitate Difficult Conversation within Teaching and Learning’, Doing Feminist Pedagogy in Contemporary Universities: Old Dilemmas and New Challenges, Warwick (United Kingdom), 08 Mar, Warwick: Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, University of Warwick. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/research/gender/calendar/eventrecordings/janinefrancois.mp3 (Accessed: 10 July 2024).