Importing Artistry: Further lessons from the design studio

This paper considers what it would take to translate the language and logic of learning in the design studio to that of the general curriculum. Using the practice of exhibition as a case in point, the ground-breaking work of Donald Schön is revisited and the lessons of the design studio are recast in light of Schön's influence on what has come to be known as the reflective practice movement. Rather than seeking to operationalize the general notion of reflection, a closer look is undertaken of the phenomenon of reflection-in-action as it occurs in the particular context of the design studio. This view offers a set of lessons built around what Schön called 'artistry'. The image of exhibition as a pedagogical system rather than merely an assessment strategy suggests a powerful metaphor for instruction, one that might enable practitioners to import the essence as well as the language of artistry into the general curriculum.