B Des Foundation Programme at NID

recent pedagogical challenges and responses

NID_B Des Foundation Porgramme_ Swasti Singh Ghai_ 10 Feb 2016 @ GSA
 1947

India got
Independence

Charles and Ray Quick timeline

Eames visit India
1957 (suggested by Ford
Foundation)
1958

The India Report

1961
Advocated design to
be a bridge between NID established
tradition and Gautam Sarabhai
modernity invited to head it.
(recommended 1:1 ratio
1963
of faculty student)
First training course
Ernst Scheidegger,
in Basic Design
1970
Switzerland
& Vilhelm Wohlert,
Denmark wrote practical PEP (Professional
plan for NID Education Programme)
(proposed workshop as commenced in Industrial
epicentre of design Design and Visual
education)
Communication Design
(Foundation programme was
inspired from Ulm where HK
Vyas had spent 11 months)
Foundation pedagogy
shaped by:

Bauhaus philosophy

Ulm philosophy
+ `Learning by doing ‘
trainings that faculty members received from the likes of

Leo Lionni (author and illustrator of children’s book)

George Nelson (American Industrial designer and one
of the founders of American modernism)
Erik Herlow (was a Danish architect known for his
exhibitions and installations and also cutlery , textile and
furniture design)
Ernst Scheidegger (was a Swiss photographer,
painter and publisher)

+
and through visits of professors from Universities abroad
One course which got introduced quite early on reflect the efforts to indigenise design
education to suit the Indian context:

Environmental Perception
Indigenising
Design
Education

a primer by former Foundation

faculty, Prof H K Vyas is still found
relevant and even today the
students are encouraged to
refer to it for the course.
Environmental Perception .......
A course that originated as a small
exposure to environments gradually grew
into a well formed course meant to deepen
perception at a multi sensory and socio
cultural levels
EP-
`deepening perception by immersing a quick
students in a rural environment for 8 to 10 look
days

Field work preceded by a week of

orientation and a week of inputs on
perspectives on Indian society- class, caste
and gender.

Drawing has remained the main tool of

observation followed by actual
participation in ongoing activities, with
due permission
Experiential mapping
Landmarks, streets and neighbourhoods ....
Activities and processes particular to rhythms of
rural life
Built spaces, habitats
Spaces within the house- private and semi private,
optimum use of space, cultural features ....
Objects of utility, small systems within objects
belonging to a space or related to a life process
such as agriculture/ cooking/ cleaning etc.
Families and individuals
 Often has a
transformative
impact on
students
COURSES @NID FOUNDATION

Drawing and Visualisation

Geometry
Materials and Methods
Colour
Composition 2 semesters
Environmental Perception
Media Appreciation
Space, Form and Structure
History of Art
History of Design
Science and Liberal Art inputs
Design Process
Quick run
through
Freehand drawing
Analytical drawing
Geometrical construction
Geometrical construction
Elements of Composition
Elements of Colour
Materials and methods
Space Form and Structure
Design Process
GRADUATION @NID :

1 + 3 years
Foundation Specialization

1 Product Design
2 Textile Design
3 Ceramic & Glass Design
DISCIPLINE CHOICE
FOUNDATION is by MERIT 4 Exhibition Design
5 Furniture & Interior Design
6 Animation Film Design
7 Film &Video Design
8 Graphic Design
GROWING NUMBERS…..

Student Strength Teaching unit Faculty Distribution

Early years : 20 + single batch 1 / all

Till late 90s : 35 single batch 2/ all

Early 2000 : 60 two batches 4/ all ( in spite

of two batches, the
attempt to have 4 faculty teaching all
reduced the faculty student ratio to
1:60- detrimental to both )

Total in 2015 : 115 + four batches Shift to 4 separate batches with 1

or 2 faculty/ batch
RATIONALISING NUMBERS : - 4 Batches

- 1 or 2 faculty/ batch

- 1:15 faculty/ student ratio

Total Students: 100 + 15 (overseas) + 1/2/3 (repeat)

A B C D
25 25 25 25
4 4 4 3
1 1 0 1
.... …… ….. …..
30 30 29 29
Key pedagogical issues
&
some remedial measures…..
 GROUP TEACHING :
4 batches = same/ similar
assignments
• Lack of
Each faculty has ownership of
potential to course
innovate
assignments • One view
dominates
1
Ease for assessments • Less growth of
But perhaps limiting in shaping of the faculty
a robust pedagogy that is
adapting to changing times

Not much space for an individual faculty to try

something new. The course coordinator and or the
most influential faculty members gets their way.
Often others not interested to contribute to
assignment pool and the outcome is shared.

Too much time and effort lost in gaining consensus

 Issue only partly
addresses......

Assignments arrived
at through

GROUP
DISCUSSIONS ( e
mails, Face to face
talk)

Discussions moderated by a
course coordinator (often an
internal faculty)
 students from all
over the country…..
• Culture
Diversity at
many levels • Class
• Religion
• Caste
2
How can the socio- cultural and
economic diversity be brought
into teaching , to allow them to
be comfortable with the idea of `
difference’ ?

Current teaching methods are homogenising,

levelling and driven by idea of similar outputs
 bridging Cultural
gaps …..
Imperative that • Students aspire to a
the diversity of local
global culture
cultural contexts be
taught along with the • Local cultures perceived
`universal’ aspects of
as being `out dated ’ ,
design
`backward ‘ and not
fashionable…
5 • Tendency to equate
How can the student realise the value of progress with adoption
the diverse streams of culture within the
country and begin to regard indigenous of global trends at the
knowledge systems for their own worth? cost of the local

Since most courses are rooted in the idea of teaching the

design fundamentals at a ` universal’ level, except for courses
such as Environmental Perception and a week input on Indian
culture, local cultural insights do not really get factored in as
the primary `content’ of most courses.
In some courses such
as Colour + Space,
Form and Structure,
conscious effort being
made to construct
assignments centred
around cultural
variations, belief
systems

Yet many other basic design

courses are still unable to make a
similar space in their modules.
 Creating
ownership of one’s
local culture
Colour names
and indigenous
language
 Western masters if in Indian context
Based on brief exposure to prominent periods in
Bridging gaps Western Art student asked to select and study a
Western or Indian Painter. Understand the
period, style, colour palette.

Select one work and try and imagine it in present

day Indian cultural context.

Sketch and paint this in the same style and colour

palette as the Artist
 Connecting
science and culture
to design, through
phenomenon of
synesthesia
Indian Aesthetics: Ragamala and Baramasa
paintings , Shilpa Das

Brief Introduction to western music

Mr Dhiman Sengupta

Western masters and their interpretation of

music in form of painting
Mr Shekhar Bhattacharjee
Raag Ahir Bhairav- an early morning raga
Raag Sarang- an afternoon raga
 course grades ultimately
determine branching out to
disciplines…..
• Students who get lower
grades immediately start
Unnecessary
Comparison of finding fault with faculty
faculty members of their batch
(& inputs) • Grade driven learning
• Instead of enjoying the
unique teaching style of
3 each faculty, students
Should final grades become the driving force suffer mentally and
for learning ? With the only desire to know `is
this right’? emotionally by
comparing
Even when the inputs are similar, students compare the faculty
members’ teaching styles. `Difference’ in teaching styles, instead of
being accepted as is and serve as a scope for inter batch learning
often leads to anxiety among the students.
 Grade driven
learning......
This has been challenging.

Some course Faculty encourage

students of one batch to seek
feedback from the faculty of
other batch.

Faculty rotate across batch for

four separate assignments. (but
only in 3 courses this has been possible)

Grade driven learning- we still

haven’t found ways to reduce that
anxiety and allow the joy of
learning to predominate
 the same set of
courses for all…..
PARADOX
Ample scope • Student selection based on
needed for similar tests
individual aptitude
• Different faculty- Same
to emerge
assignments- similar
outcome
• End of a year, expected to
4 discover their unique abilities
How can the student realise what their
aptitude is if each one is doing all the
same assignments? The margins of
discovery are slim

Since most courses give SAME assignments across 4 batches,

with the hope of maintaining parity, even at the end of 1 whole
year of basic design, many students are still confused about
their area of strength
 Yet some
courses still go
Introduced small levels of on in template
` elective’ mode in the on- mode......
going blanket courses.
This has had a significant
sense of `owner-ship’ to
learning among many.

Drastic improvement in
attendance.

Students gained slightly

better clarity with regards
to their areas of strength.
1) Basic Materials and Methods

Earlier- 4 materials- equal time to each

Wood, metal, linear and clay

Now- 1 day/ material + 1 week of selected

material Shift parts of
courses to elective
2) Media Appreciation – Newspaper, film, TV, mode
photography etc.

Earlier- ½ or 1 day common lectures for all 100

+ stduents

Now- 1/2 day introduction for all+ 4.5 days of

week of selected media electvie
 Yet the struggle
continues......
To allow scope for each
faculty to blossom as a
teacher

&

for each student to discover

more of their aptitudes and
enjoy `learning’- free of any
strings attached.

…………..
THANK YOU..