Exploring critical citizenship and globalization discourse to conscientize industry expectations of design education at Universities of Technology

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Design educators are expected to demonstrate a high level of confidence in theindustry for which they are preparing students. When I reflected upon my owndesign industry and higher education experience while engaging with criticalcitizenship and globalization discourse, my confidence in and perceived authority ofthe design industry became challenged.I came to the realization that it could be useful to view the demands from theneoliberal design industry on design education through the lenses of criticalcitizenship and globalization. The insights gained from such an investigation couldassist design educators involved in developing new design programmes toconscientize the expectations set by the design industry. It is argued that theconscientizing of expectations set by the design industry could be achieved byfocusing on conscientizing design graduates that may in turn influence the designindustry at large.The main aim of the study is to create a conceptual framework that supportstheoretical concepts that could conscientize industry expectations of designeducation. The main research question thus questioned how critical citizenship andglobalization discourse could be used to conscientize industry expectations ofdesign education at Universities of Technology (UoTs). The objectives of the studyare twofold: to identify, firstly, current industry expectations of design graduates froma University of Technology in South Africa and, secondly, to identify theoreticalconcepts in critical citizenship and globalization discourse that could be used toconscientize industry expectations of design education at UoTs in South Africa.Theoretical concepts in critical citizenship and globalization discourse wereidentified through a literature review; the identified concepts were used to develop aconceptual framework. The empirical section of the research design consisted of acase study that included industry interviews, alumni surveys and my own experienceas the main sources of data. The theoretical concepts identified in the literaturereview of critical citizenship and globalization discourse were used to structure aninductive content analysis of empirical data collected to identify possible theoreticalconcepts that can be used to conscientize industry expectations of designeducation.The picture that emerges from this study creates a worrying image of a profession incrisis. I identified the urgent need to instil compassion into design education so thatour alumni can intuitively act against situations where their dignity is under threat.This can be done by means of inclusion of critical citizenship and globalizationdiscourse in curriculums of design programmes at UoTs.The theoretical concepts in critical citizenship and globalization discourse that canpossibly be used to conscientize industry expectations of design education at UoTsare identified as: transformation, diversity, racism, social disparity, visual culture,civic identity, civic engagement, ethical relationships, shared participation, problemsolving,critical thinking, and imagination skills. I also conclude that the debateregarding the conscientizing of the design industry is of such importance that itshould not be limited to only critical citizenship and globalization discourse ‒ thedebate must go further and deeper.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University