Kristensen, J C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2855-8746 (2026) Multicomponent Output: Foundations and Vocabularies: Reframing Histories and Pedagogies of British Design Education. UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Foundations and Vocabularies is a multi-component research and practice-research project which explores the pedagogical structures and frameworks of design education in Britain. It comprises two interlinked outputs: Foundations: Recovering the Lost History of Saturday Art and Design Classes (1945–1980s) [conducted with Dr Katherine Appleford] and A Short Dictionary of Design Education. Together these outputs create new knowledge of both the material conditions and conceptual languages through which art and design education has been and is constructed.

Foundations reconstructs the lost history of Saturday Art and Design Classes (SADC), a post-war extracurricular initiative for 14–16-year-olds to access art schools. Drawing on archival research, institutional mapping and oral history interviews, Foundations presents SADC as a significant yet overlooked mechanism for widening participation, challenging dominant histories of more formal educational routes.

A Short Dictionary of Design Education extends this investigation through a research-led creative publication that critically examines the terminology of contemporary design pedagogy. Influenced by Raymond Williams’ seminal publication Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (1976), it presents terms such as ‘Studio’ and ‘Design’ as contested cultural constructs. Through a series of designed texts which function as propositions and manifestos, this publication connects historical research to current pedagogical discourse.

Foundations and Vocabularies combines historical methods with critical design practice to both recover a lost educational infrastructure and develop of a practice-based interrogation of pedagogical language. Overall, it contributes to design history and education studies through offering new frameworks for understanding access, participation and pedagogy at a time of catastrophic decline in arts education provision.

Disseminated through peer-reviewed publication, digital mapping, public programming and limited-edition print, Foundations and Vocabularies spans scholarly and professional contexts to support critical reflection on the future of design education, both at the secondary and tertiary levels.

Item Type:	Other
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Design Education, Art School History, Creative Education, Educational History, Educational Terminology, Studio Pedagogy, Widening Participation, Practice-based research, Critical Pedagogy, Postwar British Culture
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LA History of education N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR N Fine Arts > NC Drawing Design Illustration
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Design and Creative Industries
Related URLs:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53489 https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53487 https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53483 https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53488
Last Modified:	20 May 2026 10:16
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53490

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