Pedagogies for Democratic Participation in Design Studios: Towards More Inclusive Group Work among Interior Design Students

Abstract

AbstractAlthough teamwork is essential in design, interior design education can be competitive and individualistic. The role of design educators is to structure projects seeking to promote inclusive group dynamics and democratic participation among team members. Navigating the challenges of group work should not rest solely on the shoulders of students. Repeated group work in educational settings does not suffice, on its own, for fostering constructive team dynamics or for preparing students to successfully manage conflict, which, if it remains positive, can yield more creative design outcomes. This article, animated by critical and poststructural curriculum theories, proposes pedagogies incorporating positive interdependence and complex instruction for collaborative, inclusive group work and co‐design tasks that leverage conflict and promote constructive relations within teams. Instilling democratic values in design students is equally important for higher education as it is for the design discipline itself.