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Thanks so much for your kind words! And apologies for the late reply. Sigh. Life happens…

It became pretty interesting for me when I realised that design pedagogy had not changed despite the amazing boards we see at the end-of-year shows. I reckon that there is a stark difference in Collaborative and Cooperative projects even though we use these two terms interchangeably. There are some literature out there arguing for that differentiation to be made clearer. In studio, our group/team projects, although designed to ‘function’ otherwise, had always been reduced to a ‘divide-and-conquer’ method as strategised by our students, for obvious pragmatic reasons. I think it’s our own paradigm on ow we perceive collaboration to be. I had a mentor, whom I deeply respect, mentioned something like this – ‘collaboration is a dirty word’. This stuck with me for years as I tried to understand why. Even in professional practice, collaboration is (always seen/practices) in a slightly tokenistic manner, which is to probably integrate the discipline’s respective outcomes and mash them as a coherent outcome. Very much like the ‘divide-and-conquer’ approach. That lead me asking, so, is that really, collaboration?

I’m so encouraged that someone (like yourself) on the other side of the world I’m living in is also trying to design frameworks for cross pollinative design review conversations to happen. I’ve always advocated in my work that the best time to inculcate ‘cultures’ is during their Foundation/first year of study. The model you are working on is super radical! 8 different art and design disciplines?! That’s amazing!

Our diploma’s foundation year would go through a radical shift in which the architecture, interior design and landscape would move together as a herd, sharing common modules and studios. So, I’ll love to hear your experiences!

Check out Jeremy Till’s writing (I’m pretty sure you’ve already had). To quote him loosely, Education is about empowerment and to support students’ agencies in their future. What you’ve described to me, is remarkable. The important aspect in which you’ve surfaced is – Confidence building. The urgent question is, how. It’s the tacit skills or more commonly known, as the hidden curriculum. Of course, naturally we’ll refer to The Design Studio Hidden Curriculum by Thomas Dutton. Educators have not really started to think on how our conversation aspect of the studio can capitalise on that. One man’s meat is another’s poison, my studies is really seeking to understand this phenomenon. It is something bugging me for years and hopefully would be able to shed some light on this one. Hopefully.

Thanks a lot for your encouraging words. I’m always constantly learning from my colleagues about their own experiences trying out this method of studio pedagogy. Maybe the future meetups, we can just gather online and discuss/float ideas around this topic. *winks to Derek*

Thank you so much for your time in sharing your thoughts and I do apologise again for the delayed reply.

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