‘Over there, in the future’: The transformative agency of place-based design education in remote Aboriginal communities
‘Over there, in the future’: The transformative agency of place-based design education in remote Aboriginal communities
International Journal of Art & Design Education
- Author(s): Edwards-Vandenhoek, Samantha
- Published: 2018
- Volume: 37
Abstract: This article outlines the learning design, implementation and shared outcomes of an intensive placed-based design education programme that was delivered in a specific remote high school learning context in the Warmun Aboriginal community, East Kimberley, Western Australia. Place-based design education seeks to assist vulnerable young people in shaping their own environments and futures. A two-way learning framework that emphasised self-actualisation, co-creation and shared insights and involved learning through story-sharing and connecting content to place was adopted. This article suggests that providing students with opportunities to share and acquire Indigenous design knowledge developed their visual thinking, digital literacy, problem-solving and entrepreneurial skills. Such knowledge, experience and skills build confidence and improve educational outcomes, and will directly benefit Indigenous communities in the long term.