The starting point for my Action Research Project, in relation to the Ual Social Justice principles was a Branding, Design & Innovation School staff away day in Spring 2023. One of the speakers was Laura Knight, who at the time was working for the Teaching & Learning Exchange as the Educational Developer for Ual Climate, Racial and Social Justice principles. She gave a talk about these principles and the importance of embedding them at every level across the courses we all teach on. We were asked to think about this at every level from the course overview description, our handbooks, unit and project briefs and specific lectures and workshops we could create and run in alliance with these principles.
As a team we discussed this during the session as on Graphic Branding and Identity BA (Hons) as staff, we all contribute to the curriculum that is taught and embedded on our course. My takeaway from this session was that we talk about the importance of these values in our course handbook, we also mention them in some of our briefs and certainly we mark against these in our defined Learning Outcomes for each unit but what do we actually teach on a day-to-day basis about graphic design and branding in relation to issues such as sustainability or socially responsible design? When I marked my students work not long afterwards, I really started to think about what these words and their value meant in reality for students. I also asked myself, how do I grade these students if they haven’t shown evidence for PU002671: Major Project (Route A&B) (Mandatory) Unit. Level 6. Learning Outcome 4 Showcase design, technical and craft skills that reflect the principles of responsible design practice applying critical and analytical skills, and the synthesise of ideas from research in the realisation of project work. (Realisation)
What have we actually taught them that needs to be reflected in their sketchbook work, process documents and final outcomes for their projects? What do we teach them about printing processes, digital storage and its cost the environment or designing with a circular economy in mind? These are all important issues but are they valid to our students? Do they those to come to Ual because of the importance we place on them and how do we get students to go out into the world and take their learnings into their professional lives? We hope that our students will be change markers who take their values and principles with them into the industries they choose to work in but I wanted to know more about how my students and the staff I work with feel about this.
I decided to explore this through my ARP with a hope that I could learnt from talking to both staff and students and think about ways to make these grand statements into some tangible our students could apply to their projects while in college and become their values in their future careers. Looking at the Ual principles I was particularly interested in exploring the following as part of my ARP;
Ual Strategy 2022 – 2023 Guiding policy 3
To change the world through our creative endeavour.
Creating a better world.
- Climate injustice. Disinformation. Structural racism. Regional and economic inequality.
- At home and abroad, society is beset with deep-rooted social, cultural, environmental, and economic problems.
- Through our research and partnerships, and by targeting the sectors that matter, we can help solve them, and in doing so create a better world.
Ual Climate, Racial and Social Justice principles
1. Move with urgency to become a community that has the capabilities to address the social, racial and environmental injustices of climate emergency using creativity and resourcefulness. We offer hope through action, committing to the decolonisation and decarbonisation of our education and creative practices.
2.Cultivate systems thinking and practices that meaningfully acknowledge the interconnections and complexity of life on earth.
4. Design for human equity, social and racial justice by mobilising critical thinking, humbly questioning the norms, practices and biases embedded in our societies and cultures. We recognise and reflect on our individual actions and societal values through self-awareness and reflective practice.
5. Accelerate activism and advocacy by participating in co-creation and actions that realise change in solidarity with those within and outside of our community. We advocate for justice for nature and humanity through our creative practices.
Alongside this thinking, I also wanted to include a practical workshop we created for our second and third year students last year. I was tasked with writing, designing and running a series of workshops to help reduce the attainment gap with our students on GB&I BA (Hons). As a starting point for these I based each session on one the five Ual assessment criteria Learning Outcomes: Enquiry, Knowledge, Process, Communication and Realisation. For ‘Realisation’ we tasked our students with bringing the project they were currently working on to ‘Analogue Tuesday’. The students were asked to make mock-ups of their outcome from physical materials such as cardboard, Lego, Fimo, fabric or paper rather that having the ability to rely on their technical skills with a computer to produce a polished outcome. The students really enjoyed the session and gave feedback that this helped them to think about and develop their work in new and different ways.
Both these experiences were the foundation for my Action Research Project posing the question… How can I embed a sense of social purpose (through making) into the course I teach on – GB&I BA (Hons)?
https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/climate-action-plan/stories/climate-action-plan-case-study-responsible-design-framework
Climate Action Plan case study: Responsible Design Framework, written by LCC Design School
- Are driven by a desire to address challenges
- Identify a clear purpose
- Use co-design research, resourceful making, prototyping, circular thinking
- Evaluate the projects as they develop with project partners.
https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-communication/stories/responsible-design-framework-launch-case-studies-to-coincide-with-green-week
Responsible Design Framework launch case studies to coincide with Green Week.
https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/63716/ResponsibleDesignFramework.pdf
https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/communication-and-graphic-design/postgraduate/ma-design-for-social-innovation-and-sustainable-futures-lcc
https://www.arts.ac.uk/research/research-centres
https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/climate-action-plan
The case studies feature projects spanning a wide range of disciplines, and explore a variety of themes including waste, wellbeing, social enterprise, design activism and corporate social responsibility.
https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/strategy-and-governance/strategy/guiding-policy-3
