Learning by watching Vernacular Iñupiaq-Inuit design learning as inspiration for design education

• Main Author: Janne Beate Reitan
• Format: Article
• Language: Danish
• Published: Nordiskt Forum för Forskning och Utvecklingsarbete inom Utbildning i Slöjd (NordFo) 2014-12-01
• Series: Techne Series: Research in Sloyd Education and Craft Science A
• Online Access: https://journals.hioa.no/index.php/techneA/article/view/1263

<em>In this article, I explore a single case of vernacular clothing design — the practice and learning of</em> <em>design for contemporary Iñupiaq-Inuit clothing made by women from Kaktovik in Northern Alaska —</em> <em>and I hope to contribute to a better understanding of design practice and learning in general. Design</em> <em>research has many unexplored areas, and one of these omissions is vernacular design, or folk design.</em> <em>In my opinion, professional and academic design may well have something to learn from vernacular</em> <em>design, although this research is about vernacular learning and about what, why and how the</em><br /><em>‘making’ discipline of clothing design is learned. This study was based on observations of and</em> <em>interviews with seamstresses and research-by-design, which includes authorial participation in</em> <em>designing and sewing in adherence to Iñupiaq tradition. All of this was recorded on digital video film.</em> <em>The investigation of Iñupiaq-Inuit clothing design indicates that watching was the most common way</em> <em>of learning, a phenomenon I have chosen to call learning-by-watching, a concept that can be seen as a</em> <em>development of both Schön and Wenger’s theories of learning, as influenced by John Dewey’s theory</em> <em>of learning-by-doing. This study will be discussed in connection with design education, from</em> <em>kindergarten to professional studies in higher education, in the forthcoming research project, Design</em> <em>Literacy, the purpose of which is to develop theory to improve design education in both compulsory</em> <em>and academic design education. Consequently, to improve design education in general, a thorough</em> <em>focus on learning-by-watching in communities of practice would make for more reflective</em> <em>practitioners and more sustainable design practices in the long run.</em><br /><br />Keywords: Vernacular design, clothing design, design thinking, learning-by-watching, learning-bydoing.