‘Design Fiction as a Pedagogic Practice’

I write this while I’m on the train to Uni (a fantastic consequence of having internet access via smart phones and the cloud based programs I use!). I found this reading a little vague, so I went along with it (speculative thinking eh?) and I found the concept of approaching teaching in a more speculative fashion to be rather humbling. Instead of teaching what students can do, it supposes teaching students what they might do; it teaches potential over fulfilment. This is an absolutely superb way of thinking, particularly in an age of dynamic digital environments and cultural shifts that demand independent thinking and versatility from those who want to rise a step above the rest in the professional world.

It encourages double loop learning, certainly, but it does so before it’s needed; a precautionary measure. If we were to take an engineering lab (not that I actually know anything about engineering) as an example, rather than encouraging students to best please clients it would ask them “Why would you choose that design? What other designs could work better? Why, or why not?” and ultimately nurtures an inquisitive mind.

For a TL;DR I guess the idea is to question your future decisions, then question them some more. I guess it best dismantles deterministic values of what will happen and replaces them with more relevant values of what could happen as we enter the ever changing contemporary world.

edit: here’s the link if you want to read the article, it’s rather interesting.

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