Is Creative Britain in Reverse?
There appears to be a contradiction at the heart of the Coalition’s attitude towards design. On the one hand we have George Osborne’s mantra for driving the economy “made in Britain, created in Britain, designed in Britain” and David Willetts’ assertion that design and innovation are central to growth. Conversely, the upcoming National Curriculum review, under the auspices of Michael Gove, might see Design and Technology (D&T) ditched as a statutory subject for school pupils aged five to fourteen.
In front of an audience at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a panel of design luminaries, which included Dick Powell, Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic, and yachtsman turned champion of creative education Dame Ellen MacArthur, debated whether creative Britain was in reverse.
Dick Powell, in his trademark uncompromising style, said it would be a “complete disaster” if D&T were to be removed from the National Curriculum. He suggested that the government did not understand D&T’s relationship with STEM subjects and their attitude towards the subject was blinkered.
He praised the progress of D&T teaching in schools over the last twenty years saying that the fact it was now nigh on impossible to find an 11-year-old who doesn’t know what design does represented “an immense change”. In the context of budget cuts and the curriculum review, his message was that the design education community should not lament the situation with a chip on its shoulder, but should collectively “make a lot of passionate noise” to convince policy makers of D&T’s critical role in schools.
Ellen MacArthur reflected on how her childhood “surrounded by tools” (her father was a D&T teacher) equipped her with the problem-solving, decision-making skills which were tested to the limit in her sailing exploits. Now on dry land, she has launched a foundation in her name that aims to inspire young people to re-think and re-design the future. Adding her voice to the calls for D&T to remain a statutory subject, she said it was “absolutely essential” for the country’s future.
My opinion – for what little it is worth? Having recently visited the New Designers show, I was, again, impressed by the passion and creativity of the cohort of students at the end of their formal design education. How many would have been proudly explaining their projects if they hadn’t studied D&T at school? Yes, some of their work is naive; yes, perhaps, we are churning out too many designers of questionable quality; yes, there are problems with design education – in schools, colleges and universities – that need to be addressed.
However, sidelining D&T at school level would be utterly misguided. Not only would such a move jeopardize Britain’s tradition of producing world-leading designers, inventors and entrepreneurs, children – destined for design careers or not - would be denied access to the unique blend of academic knowledge, problem solving, communication and, lets not forget it, making that the subject delivers.
If you get a chance, please watch a short film on the topic put together by SeymourPowell and the Design and Technology Association. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FGpcxMjqjE)
On a side note, can the phrase “thinking outside the box” henceforth be banned from debates about design education? Its repetition has long-since rendered it cliché and, thus, its use is indicative of the sort of non-creative thinking we should be trying to avoid.
Alistair Welch
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