The Design Education Myth

There are not many former Handicraft departments that have not changed their names into something that implies a new emphasis.Using various permutations of currently used words like 'Design', 'Craft', 'Technology', 'Technical' and 'Creative', each school has carefully tried to present its particular interpretation of the kind of education their title implies.Yet when one tries to see the extent to which the title gives a true indication of what is happening in the school, it becomes clear that the ones that have tended to avoid, or be reticent about using the word Design in their Departmental title, will probably be the ones who, in a dozen or so years, will have been seen to have got it about right.For the chances are, by then Craft and Design and Technology Education, or Design Education for short, will have all but died. In spite of huge investment and a massive propaganda campaign to get it going in the schools, it has hardly even begun to establish itself