Campbell Muir

The ARP is called ‘Root Techniques’, I want to diversify the methodology we teach , contributing to de-colonising the curriculum and also to embrace the “Roots” of many of the techniques we use. We teach what we accept to be the “correct” methodology but these methods are simply homogenised variations on principles that have been gathered from around the globe and regulated within our own Eurocentric design ethos. There is not always one correct method but a long line of variations and many of which having derived from the respective countries that we gather our students, from where the root technique may have been used for hundreds of years.

I want to compile a mixture of video, visual journal and mini field reports from staff and students of craft techniques, many of which contribute to the style we produce in Europe but all from their respective countries.

This could be compiled by process and chronological index into the Technical Moodle site of UAL and be a resource to inspire their design and making work, opening them up to wider cultural possibilities than what is perceived as standard method in Europe.

What are you going to read about? 

The writing of field reports and observations, Tjora (2006) on observation and Ethnography, I found this really interesting in how I might teach students to write these journals and reports and be sensitive to the cultural context that the process are being carried out in. Also look into further examples of ethnographic writing.

What action are you going to take in your teaching practice?

As stated above, I plan to create a database of Root techniques from around the world that staff and students can contribute to. I plan to make a field report template, a framework that outlines ethical observation techniques for students journaling in this manner for the first time.

The template should be short yet detailed enough to emphasise the importance of sensitive ethical reporting and the baseline questions should provide a level of continuity to the database.

I will describe styles of ethnographical reporting to allow for a sense of personal expression it what is observed.

As for the platform I may look at a customised Padlet page that entries can be uploaded to easily and for others to add to and comment on with relevant information.

This has the potential be a large project so I will focus on a slice to demonstrate where I will create the framework for observation with the example of 2-3 pieces of observation with media content.

I will then use a focus group compiled from the 3 year groups and MA to provide feedback on the process.

Who will be involved and how?

This Framework will be available to a Jewellery Design students and we will make them aware of this particularly when they go off for DiPS at the end of 2nd year.

Post 2nd year is ideal as the students have experience in essay writing within the Cultural studies context and have 2 years of workshop and design experience.

What are the health & safety concerns, and how will you prepare for them?

There is a definite need for Health & Safety guide lines for processes like this, the very nature of the workshop in any country carries inherent safety issues such as exposure to materials and byproducts, the use of PPE need to be involved, the general safety and security of anybody traveling to the area as well as understanding that the process may carry cultural sensitivities that the observer must be aware of.

How will you protect the data of those involved?

The observer must ensure they have the informed consent of those involved in the process and exclude any identifiable characteristics or faces from the journal if needed.

There should be a minimum of handlers in editing prior to final edit to preserve content from introduced bias.

Those recording the process need to be aware of who has authority in sharing the cultural knowledge they have observed, some details may be sacred and only passed on by designated individuals.

How will you work with your participants in an ethical way?

By completing this document, I hope to highlight some of the principles in ethical observation reporting for the staff and students that will hopefully gather some of the information. 

Observers should have the informed consent of those being observed and understand who owns the knowledge gathered, especially when there is no payment involved. 

It is important that those gathering the process data understand the importance of intellectual property, many students coming across such information could struggle to differentiate between the process and the object produced. 

Cultural Sensitivity 

It’s important to document the observers’ own positionality, this may be pertinent when processes have a religious or sacred cultural importance. Also, when documenting processes in another culture to take a naive standpoint and describe exactly what they see to avoid judgment or influence. 

Enviromental sensitivity 

Some artisanal techniques might require the use of rare materials to carry out the process so opportunities to record should not be artificially initiated and only take part when the artisans would normally produce the work, this would be to not additionally strain natural stocks and resources. 

Commodification 

At the heart of education, we are preparing students for the world of work and we must ensure that students and those who use this process depository make clear the significance of the processes to the culture they were gathered in and what it means to those local to it. 

We want to discourage the blind taking of knowledge to turn into commercial venture where it has a deeper meaning to the original artisans and culture that it is from. 

Inclusive practices has been an incredibly useful unit within the PGCERT, it’s subject matter has been broad yet all come together to highlight the intersectionality of people’s lived experiences.

Some topics within the unit have been more prominent in my teaching than others such as ‘Disability’ but only after reading more about the many facets that make-up this field have I come to appreciate just how impactful it can be with regards to intersectionality.

Through care and purposeful design can a much more inclusive environment be created in all areas of society, how much better it would be to include those who feel marginalised and the contribution they will bring to understanding lived experiences.

Importantly the understanding of those with non visible disabilities and how society can disregard such issues posing massive restrictions and sometimes legal implications on those that suffer mental health and neuro-diverse issues.

I found that reading about Critical Race Theory (CRT), opened my eyes to just how you we place barriers in the path of our young and how they engage with the educational system as was described in Bradbury (2020), highlighting how early primary education inadvertently discriminates against minority children through bench mark testing on entry to primary school but at a point some children don’t speak fluent English, establishing an attainment gap at an early age.

With higher education it’s also incredibly important to view our teaching programmes through a lens of CRT and this is why my Intervention looks to create a more inclusive teaching outlook and follow framework for decolonising the curriculum. Moving away from just a Eurocentric resource on methodology and sourcing process and technique from around the world, some of which may be familiar to overseas students and generate greater cultural appreciated and innovation.

As a Technical Specialist I generally have little engagement with issues of faith but I can appreciate the needs and restrictions it can impose on people in comparison to those without faith like myself.

Care must be taken to ensure that students are not put in difficult situations with topics that counter to their belief system and should be accommodated with an alternative if needed as often the faith goes hand in hand with other cultural sensitivities.

Equally, faith is a controllable variable and university is a place for free speech on sometimes sensitive subjects and exploration of topics. A person can choose how much they are at liberty to explore subjects with regards to their faith. Cultural sensitivity is important to not intentionally cause offence, this can be balanced with careful review of subject matter and dialogue with others who may have expertise in religious practice.

References

Bradbury, A., 2020. A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(2),

Racism – Diversity, Equity and inclusion

British institutions have wrestled to balance the metrics and the lived experiences of those marginalised by  lack of racial understanding and inclusion. This is most evident in the education system and is playfully demonstrated in the supplied reading material “The School that tried to end racism”. The short video uses the context of a school race to illustrate the ongoing societal inequalities.

Children, often unaware of societal inequalities cut straight to the point, the race starting position being set by a series of questions that when answered demonstrate their inequality with the dominant group in society.

This experiment illustrates societal inequality, the children are shocked by the unfairness of the race and realise that those disadvantaged are mostly of ethnic minority background.

Their reactions underscore the impact of systemic biases from an early age. Bradbury (2020) further emphasises this in “The Case for Bilingual Learners and Assessment Policy in England”, highlighting how early primary education inadvertently discriminates against minority children.

Assessments carried out on entry to education to establish a baseline are set in English and disregarding the fact that many have English as a second language at home if at all.

This style disadvantages those children, labelling them as being of low ability just on linguistic ability. Successive governments implement testing policies that inherently favour their systems and political interests. As discussed in the paper there is a real need for Critical Race Theory (CRT) in developing these policies from the very start to see what implications they have through the CRT lens. Are these policies sustaining embedded bias to the dominant group? Or genuinely benefiting all students.

Although not explicitly stated, Bradbury’s paper implies racial discrimination against people of colour, despite focusing on bilingual students compared to “White” students. Recent Eastern European immigrants, though white, also face similar disadvantages, showing that institutional biases affect various groups.

Current discussions often generalise “whiteness” as being a negative concept Kehinde Andrew (2023). Controversial books such as “White Fragility” By Robin Diangelo (2018) reinforce this by presenting a ”Catch 22 “ scenario, agreeing validates the concept or disagree and further reinforces it.

Isabel Wilkersons (2020)’ book “Caste” describes the problems as stemming from the “Dominant Caste”, she discusses the USA and race relations where the dominant caste is white but much of what is discussed regarding race and equality is something of a global issue and using her term “Dominant” to describe majority ethnicity makes it more applicable where many of the same issues exist in other areas such India, China and areas of the African continent where societies have varying degrees of minority groups yet where the dominant cast is not white or that the dominant group lies along religious lines.

Our habit of generalising societal groups and not standing back to view them through concepts such as CRT that continue to compound issues such as attainment gaps and in the past two decades my perception is that education has become an ever shifting political playing field rather than sustained, inclusive and having a broad interdisciplinary view for those using it.

References

Wilkerson 2020, Isabel. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. New York: Random House, 2020.

DiAngelo, (2018) Robin. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Boston: Beacon Press.

Bradbury, A., 2020. A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(2),

Channel 4. (2020) The School That Tried to End Racism. [Online}. Youtube. 30 June.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/17/the-psychosis-of-whiteness-surviving-insanity-of-a-racist-world-by-kehinde-andrews-review-provocative-but-problema§ic

Faith undeniably influences intersectionality, shaping how we are perceived based on society’s preconceived ideas about religion. Despite having no religious beliefs myself, I am of Scottish origin and find theology fascinating for its symbolism, art, and customs.

Appiah,  (2014) TED talk “Is Religion good or bad” presents a simplistic idea that the worlds major theological beliefs have been defined as formal religions in how they compare to the practice of Christianity.

I agree with him that religious practices were often judged by Christian standards, which imposed specific expectations on followers. However, many religions can be further divided into subcultures, each with its own norms.

Appiah also asserts that religion has historically facilitated scientific progress. While it’s true that religious figures like monks and priests have contributed to mathematics and astronomy, this is often due to their financial independence rather than an inherent equality between religion and science.

Religion should be a personal experience shared with others who have similar beliefs. Elevating religion to the same level as science and modern education can potentially limit access to education, science, and fields like sports.

In Jawad’s(2022), Islam, Women and Sport: The Case of Visible Muslim Women , the article examines the perceived barriers Muslim women face in accessing high level sports. Jawad discusses the negative perception of Islam in recent times with relation to middle East wars and terrorism but I fail to see how this shapes the inclusion of Muslim women in sport. 

There are Western views of Muslim women as subordinate within their own community and perhaps are not enabled within their communities to participate, this is not the case most of the time but I feel there is an element of inhibiting within certain groups on religious grounds that don’t work in women’s interest to partake in sport particularly in a culturally diverse society as opposed to one where their religions values are integral to the dominant culture.

I discussed this issue with a middle eastern female swimmer who competed internationally in swimming. She noted that maintaining modesty in swimming was challenging but feasible, depending on how strictly families interpreted religious guidelines but it was still possible to compete to a high level.

Opinions differ between the younger generation and their parents especially in areas of gender, gender rolls and social expectations. These views are often propped up by cultural views that are strongly influenced by religion.

UAL (2022) Annual report shows 28% of students identified as having faith and I’m interested to know what effect faith has on attainment in Art & Design.

Kurt & Drew(2019) find that the results can be polarising and are dependent on religion, sex and generation with each combination creating its own intersectionality, it would also be interesting to look at the field of attainment whether it be academic or artistic.

The younger generation’s struggle to balance traditional cultural and religious expectations with contemporary academic demands could contribute to an attainment gap. Students of faith might play it safe with their project ideas to navigate this delicate balance, leading to 

lower marks from academics who prioritise boundary-pushing and innovation. 

Thus, the intersection of faith and culture can create unique challenges for students of faith in academic and extracurricular achievements.

References

UAL (2022) – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2021/22

Kurt & Drew (2019) – Does Religion Influence Educational Attainment

Appiah, K. A. (2014) Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question). Youtube [Online]. 16 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2et2KO8gcY

Jawad, H. (2022) Islam, Women and Sport: The Case of Visible Muslim Women. [Online]. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2022/09/islam-women-and-sport-the-case-of-visible-muslim-women/ 

Every year we welcome a new cohort of students from all corners of the globe and all types of cultural background, all very eager to learn techniques and principles particular to their field of study.

I want to break the methodology we teach open somewhat, partly in de-colonising the curriculum and also to embrace the “Roots” of many of the techniques we use. We teach what we feel to be the “correct” method but these methods are simply homogenized variations on principles that have been gathered from around the globe and regulated within our own style and twist as there is no strictly correct method just one in a long line of variations and many of which having derived from the respective countries that we gather our students from where the root technique may have been used for hundreds of years.

I’m hoping that we can forster a greater sense of inclusivity when we appreciate diverse cultural practices rather than forcing singular cultural norms for craft and design methodology.

I propose a branch of Technical moodle that perhaps other departments can build on where we have the induction methods with video and written information that we are accustomed to but then a breakdown in various other methods from around the world of how similar techniques are carried out, all recorded and growing each year.

This could encourage studio breakout sessions for students to demonstrate methods to their cohort and explain the historical context for the methods. We also run wednesday lecture series where practitioners in root techniques could discuss their practices and how it fits within their cultural context such as methods traditionally carried out by mainly one sex or that have a strong religious meaning.

All these facets could highlight the contributions that our diverse cohort bring with them and making higher education a two way path rather than them being just the vessel to be filled .

Three thought-provoking perspectives from artists, athletes, and activists on their disability and how they view societies support and inclusion of them and others in the community.

In the first video the veteran Paralympian and journalist Ade Adepitan makes a very pertinent point that “ society has not allowed me to shine”, it’s not the disability that is necessarily stopping or inhibiting the person with societal inclusion but society as a whole that is still lagging in developing and investing money, time and resources to facilitate means to include these members of our communities.

Nick Webborn the Paralympics GB, highlights how public transport accessibly design is often an after thought, designed for compliance rather than genuine inclusivity. The Department of Transport has clear guidelines for their Designers on how they should design for best practices in their paper ( Inclusive Mobility ), in this they touch on another of Nicks comments where good design doesn’t just benefit those with disabilities but many able bodied members of society additional to social inclusion. This could be through additional space for wheelchairs and buggies, quiet zones for those with varying non-visible conditions or tactile surface for visual impairments.

Good design has a holistic approach to inclusivity and is backed up by the governments Equality act 2010, protecting people from discrimination in the many guises it comes in.

Karé Adenegan, a Paralympic athlete, discusses the isolation she felt in schools, where inadequate accommodation discouraged her participation in athletics. She also addresses the reluctance within the black community to acknowledge and celebrate disabilities, stressing the importance of representation and supportive environments.

Christine Sun Kim, a deaf artist form the United States comments on how her deafness has the potential to have a negative impact on access to education, arts & culture and entertainment if society doesn’t incorporate inclusive structures into the daily fabric, this is where absolutely everything we create should have some consideration as to how it could be adapted, constructed or design for greater inclusivity rather than it being an add on or after thought so as to just comply with regulations at a minimum level.

The intersectionality of race and disability can exacerbate exclusionary practices particularly non-visible disabilities and not only impacts day to day life with regards to inclusion but be dismissed in law if not immediately evident.

The case of Neli Latson, an 18 year old autistic African American man who was reported for acting suspiciously whilst waiting for a library to open and arrested and charged with a felony of assaulting a law enforcer and sentenced to 10 years. Prosecutors moved to have his record of suffering from Autism thrown out arguing it “too convenient”.

This situation was clearly viewed through a race lens and the disability disregarded more because it was convenient to the prosecution not to see it as relevant to his actions when frightened by the approaching officers in the incident and tried to run away. (Jasmine E. Harris 2021)

It is of huge importance to view our inclusion of all members of society through the lens of intersectionality as a critical social theory not only when we try to design for a fairer society but when addressing a levelling up of our society for a more complete inclusion.

References

– Video, YouTube – Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism

– Video, YouTube – Christine Sun Kim: “Friends and Strangers”

– Video, YouTube – Paralympian Karé Adenegan breaks down the intersectionality of race, disability and gender.

– Department for Transport – Inclusive Mobility. A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure. 2021

– The Yale Law Journal – Reckoning with Race and Disability, Jasmine E. Harris 2021