Polite versus Useful Knowledge

“his concern is in effect with ‘polite learning’, above all with a command of the classical languages of the ancient world and the knowledge to which this admits its possessors”

What then is “Heart Work”?

The cake box is empty, the Banana bread has been eaten. More Banana Bread needed Who are you As a teacher I have to remember the names of students. A large number of names. But because I teach in university, and because the students take my classes, they opt in and then the next semester……

Why are the notions of Temperament and Embodiement important in design education?

(this piece was written in March 2020, so very much a draft of a potential article. Warning; the text is mostly hypertext) How to think of the online pivot? And then it came to be that overnight academic staff had to start teaching online, the students had to start learning online. They said that Industrial……

The maker-turn

Late in 2019 I was preparing for the move of MF6M out to a new campus. Only this campus would not have conventional classrooms or studio spaces. Instead it would have maker spaces. Seeing this as an opportunity for change – like a Mike Metty Pivot – I embraced the move. The questions that immediately……

Making Change, Realizing Goals

Its 2003, I arrive in Australia from India. I have moved countries to take over as Program Director of the Industrial Design Program. In December 2003 two things about the program in were significant: The program was not ranked highly globally The graduate satisfaction scores were low In 2018 things are vastly different: Ranking: In……

Critical Pedagogy

Image Source (http://www.wikiwand.com/pt/Paulo_Freire) Its 30 years today since I encountered, discussed and applied Freire in my teaching practice. In this period I have experimented with method, I have been in leadership positions arguing for Criticality and the Transformative in the design of learning events. I have in this same period seen the rise of the……

Extremely Poor LMS

Many People hate Blackboard – but only part of it is the fault of technology. Most of the fault is that of the teachers. How? Here is what I read today – and I was struck by how correct this was. The author decribes the introduction of technology in education as a continuation of legacy……

Porous Frontier

First – I have to thank Amrit Srinivasan for the suggestion of this name – as an update on the notion of Border Crossings. Its a very powerful title for institutions’ ways of thinking about their embeddedness in society. Border Crossings is great too – but a bit overused and so worn! Now this text……