CONTEXTUAL CHALLENGES

A Contextual Challenge is more than just a starting point.

For GCSE students it is easy to see an exam board's contextual challenges as just a thing you have to get past for the first page to 'find' a problem or a project, or jump through an assessment hoop with, or (worst of all) something that you have to force to fit an outcome you want to achieve. Some students and teachers view them a bit like the starting blocks in a 100m race - useful to get you going but quickly left behind.

We believe that a much more useful and productive way to think of the context is as a lens through which all aspects of the project are seen, from the beginning through to the end. A design context is most useful when your understanding of it is something you constantly work from, and on, to give your designing focus and a centre to every step of the design process.

• EXEMPLAR DESIGN CONTEXTS

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY • PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES • OUTDOOR LIVING • KEEPING FIT AND ACTIVE • HUMAN CAPACITY • LIVING AND WORKING SPACES • DEVELOPING A COMMUNITY • PROTECTING PEOPLE & PRODUCTS • HEALTH & WELL BEING • TIME • LIGHT • SHELTER • CONTAINMENT • NEEDS OF THE ELDERLY • INCLUSIVE DESIGN • SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS • CHILD DEVELOPMENT • COMMUNITY CELEBRATION • UNIVERSAL DESIGN • OUTDOOR LIVING • HOBBIES • NATURAL FORMS • SUSTAINABLE FUTURES • SPORT & FITNESS • EMERGING MATERIAL TECHNOLOGIES • JOURNEYS • SUPPORTING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES • MULTIFUNCTIONAL LIVING • AN AGEING POPULATION • INDEPENDENT LIVING • THE NEXT FIVE YEARS • HOMELESSNESS • FOOD SECURITY • CHARITY AND GIVING • EMPATHY • MINIMALIST LIVING • EDUCATION FUTURES • ENCOURAGING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES • PROVIDING A SAFE AND COMFORTABLE HOME • WORKING TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE • A HIGH PROFILE ACTIVITY OR OCCASION • TEENAGE LIFESTYLE • THE THIRD AGE • NATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT • LEARNING THROUGH PLAY • WEARABLES • ILLUMINATION • MEDICAL • EXTENDING LIFE • SAVING SPACE • SMART CLOTHING • TEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE • HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS • PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES • OUTDOOR LIVING • KEEPING FIT AND ACTIVE •

UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Designers have the moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that their design solutions benefit as many people as possible whilst also doing no harm. The United Nations has a set of sustainable development goals they they are working to achieve globally. These goals are excellent for designers to work within as we create our own sustainable solutions and futures.

• WHY WORK WITHIN A CONTEXT?

Working with broad contexts allows young designers to engage with design in a much more meaningful way. By framing all ongoing design activity in a real world context, and by having meaningful and productive interactions with users, the student will develop skill of working with empathy, and will more fully experience the profound effect that design can have on the world.

Working within a CONTEXT gives our projects more depth and meaning. A context will describe the background and setting, and bind together the people, purposes and places that are the focus of the challenge.

Thoughtful challenges that are actually meaningful and relevant to our lives and our futures come from exploring the rich diversity of issues that a context encompasses. This in turn allows us to understand and appreciate the importance and purpose of designing, and gives us the opportunity to understand the many factors that need to be considered in creating positive solutions and outcomes.

When done well the use of contexts in the early decision making process gives the young designer ownership of a project, and the opportunity to confront and understand real issues and so become practised in using design to influence the future for the better.

• USING A CONTEXT THROUGHOUT

Whether starting a project from one of three contextual levels (1- a clearly defined and unpackaged context, 2- beginning from a specified scenario, 3- a given brief) referring back to the context gives learners the opportunity to engage with wider and larger issues as they continually reflect on the effectiveness of their solution making. They will be more able to focus information gathering, understand the needs of people and places, and will practice metacognition skills through the consideration of how context influences the development of their solutions.

• CONTEXTUAL LEVELS

• CONTEXT - open-ended, loosely defined. Establish ownership and demands decision-making to focus the project direction. Difficult for learners to identify a design challenge that is both acheiveable and motivating.

• REFERENCED TASKS - Students are given a context and also a scenario that provides a frame of reference before deciding on specific tasks.

• SPECIFIC TASKS - very tightly defined focus, gives clarity to the student and reduces the amount of decision making needed. The risk is that it can easily blind learners to broader issues and possibilities.

• TEACHERS- USING CONTEXTS IN THE CURRICULUM

(Consider using the template above in placing your projects and answering the questions below)

At which of the three contextual levels are your current projects set?
How could you take a current project and adapt it to embrace a broader context?
How might you be able to give more ownership and agency to students?
How might you enable a richer experience, and give more depth and breadth to their design thinking?
Consider how it might be possible to develop a broader, mixed range of projects across the curriculum for Y8 or Y9 that include the starting points of 1 Broad context, 2 referenced scenarios, 3 Specific briefs.

• WORKING FROM A CONTEXT: STUDENT GUIDE v1

Select a context
What does this context mean to you? Map out what you know about this context. (Individually or in small groups)
Identify and talk to people who are involved with or affected by the context. Identify their PIES
Identify and develop scenarios that could arise within the context
Use the Critical Thinking Prompt sheet (below) to dig deeper into the context.
Talk through the problems with other designers, and especially the people who are involved in the context
Generate a brief from what you have found
Make your initial thinking visible, fast and rough. (Sketch/Model)
Discuss your thinking with the people you are designing for
Develop, model and test the ideas
Evaluate the model with a user (discuss and make notes about all positive and negative points)
Develop and model further, using feedback
Repeat

• PIES

• CRITICAL THINKING PROMPTS

WHO ?

Who benefits from this?
Who is this harmful to?
Who makes decisions about this?
Who have you also heard discuss this?
Who would be the best person to consult?
Who will be the key people in this?
Who deserves recognition for this?

WHAT ?

What are the strengths/weaknesses?
What is another perspective?
What is another alternative?
What would be a counter-argument?
What is the best/worst case scenario?
What is the least/most important?
What can we do to make a positive change?
What is getting in the way of our action?

WHERE ?

Where would we see this in the real world?
Where are there similar concepts/situations?
Where in the world would this be a problem?
Where can we get more information?
Where do we go for help with this?
Where are the areas for improvement?

WHEN ?

When is this acceptable / unacceptable?
When would this benefit our society?
When would this cause a problem?
When is the best time to take action?
When will we know that we've succeeded?
When has this played a part in our history?
When can we expect this to change?
When should we ask for help with this?

WHY ?

Why is this a problem/challenge?
Why is it relevant to me or others?
Why is this the best/worst scenario?
Why are people influenced by this?
Why should people know about this? has it bee this way for so long?
Why has it been this way for so long?
Why have we allowed this to happen?
Why is there a need for this today?

HOW ?

How is this similar to...?
How does this disrupt things?
How do we know the truth about this?
How will we approach this safely?
How does this benefit us/others?
How does this harm us/others?
How do we see this in the future?
How can we change this for good?