Beyond the classroom – pedagogy for the real world

‘The nature of sustainability, and the prospect of unsustainability, require a fundamental change of epistemology, and therefore of education. Changes are necessary in curricula, pedagogy, policy and institutional structures.’ (Jones et al, 2010) Social design highlights design-based practices aimed towards collective and social ends rather than predominantly commercial or consumer-orientated objectives. This paper shares staff and students experiences of participating in an interdisciplinary approach to social design practice and describes the key aspects that arose from the implementation of a collaborative approach to teaching on the MA/MFA Design Programme at Sheffield Hallam University. The author believes that social design has a key place in design education as threats including precarious economies, social and financial inequities, global warming, war and mass migration are real-world issues impacting on world citizens and the planet. Opening up the right forums for discussion and experimentation, including the right mix of skills and knowledge to enrich discussion, needs careful consideration and facilitation (Bateman, R. 2016). Initial work on the MA/MFA Design Programme has focused on placing social design within a module and employing cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary working and learning. Our current projects widen the learning experience taking place over a one-year period with dual entry and multiple points. This work includes the local City Council, city residents and our DeSIS Lab Taking the conference theme of ‘expanding communities of sustainable practice and a sub-theme of a holistic design curriculum, this work particularly highlights the value of situating learning beyond the classroom in real-world contexts supported by a community of practice . Holism here relates to the recognition that learning is socially situated, that it draws on the individual strengths and resources the student bring and that by involving practitioners from different specialisms learning has the potential to bring about real-world transformation and change beyond the boundaries of the subject discipline. Keywords: Holism, social design, student engagement, interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, communities of practice.