The true aim of every one who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions,...........but to kindle minds. F. W. Robertson
Teaching
Philosophy
My
name is Forrester de-Sa... I am an imagineer, and an eternal optomist and what I try to do is
conceive and design interior realms
the human spirit can enjoy
and experience on various levels of emotional interaction whether they be
engaged in work play or education.
How
do I do this? By keeping an open mind and watching
and learning about about the world around me. By being kept informed of new
methods and philosophies of user interactions whether they be in a social or
technical realm and of course through debate and research. Also by being
proactive as a freelance professional. Alongside this I create environments and conditions in
which people can live, work, explore or enjoy and which in turn, have a
positive influence on an emotional level. Not just any environments, but
visitor-attraction-centres, museums, exhibitions, branding centres, heritage
and thematic environments. I do this, because I am driven to explore and
enhance the human experiences and
expectations through exploration, interaction understanding and
learning.
And why do I teach? Well the world is a rapidly changing place and with it,
philosophies, cultures and societies also evolve. Knowledge and education are
at the heart of this, encouraged and guided by inquisitive, creative forward
thinking individuals that come in the form of students. To be able to help
these aspiring members of our society along their chosen path means to be at the forefront of change.
Because of this I challenge my students to explore and question what is design,
who they are as creative individuals and and explore their ambitions. I
encourage them to question and probe their interests and how they perceive and
conceptualise the world tomorrow based on human expectations and their interactions
on many levels (social and cultural as examples), within todays realm. And to
pursue this adventure through creative and informed processes that hopefully
will enhance and influence human
experiences and the future.
As a
teacher, I am offered the unique opportunity to present these issues and more
to individuals willing to dream and imagine who have ambition and the strength
to perceive and conceptualise tomorrow’s world and its people, their needs and
expectations, by making them aware of to days world and by encouraging them to
be visionaries.
How do I teach?
Before I can effectively interact and work with my students, I need to
understand their reasons for giving up a number of years of their lives to the
pursuit of education, what they want to achieve, what their expectations and
ambitions are at this moment in time (it will change) and to find out who they
are as personalities. From the first moment of meeting new students, I give
them the feeling that they are, as individuals, a part of a creative team and
environment.
I see each student in my care as unique—individuals who have the courage to
explore their potential and challenge their philosophies of life, gained
through many years of experiences and emotional encounters and who come from
all walks of life and backgrounds. These students entrust in to my care their
desires and aspirations, with the hope that they might realise at least a
few steps forward to their dreams. My main aim is to inspire my students, to
challenge them with real design issues relevant to today’s and tomorrow’s
world, to argue, to listen, to explore, to compromise, to believe, to be the
best they could possibly be. They also feel from the moment we meet that they
are part of a creative environment. They are made to feel that the
design-industry they want to reach is here and now, so I treat my
learning-environments as if I were in professional practise. I have deadlines,
I have practical, realistic
creative briefs. I have client-format presentations, weekly meetings,
group sessions, creative surgeries. I delegate responsibilities, call my
students junior designers and make them feel what they are doing is important
to them and me and is directly related to the needs of the creative industries.
From this, they have a sense of respectability and responsibility, they are not
just students, but junior designers.
It is important to see the potential in people early on, to see the skills they
do not recognise, identify or appreciate, or knew they had. Indeed, it is important
to encourage that the talent for dreaming and visualising impossible worlds and
ways of living and communicating is something to be explored and embraced.
Teaching is about changing lives, empowering people with the belief to believe,
to imagine, to make better their world and if possible those within it. To find
out who they are.
Within academia, I also see the
opportunity to address issues and concerns that are being felt within the
design industry. Concerns relating to the lack of quality and skills new
graduates are displaying in areas such as research, conceptualising abilities,
sketching and visualising techniques, programming, design development, etc.
Also, their lack of understanding of the implementations their creative
decisions would have on social, cultural and economical issues. Their inability
to work as team players and communicate ideas effectively and so on. By
addressing these issues and more within relevant and practical project work and
links with industry professionals and companies, the students in my keep are
more than adequately prepared to meet the demands of working within high end
design studios, and being pro-active within a team environment as well as
securing that all important first position.
I teach because I believe students and education determine the future of this
world decisively. I teach design, because that is who I am. I teach, because I
wish to inspire and have my students inspire me, but more importantly, I want
them to inspire each other and those involved with designing the future. To do
this, they need greater understanding of social and cultural issues, of new
modes of communication and of working. The implications of new technologies on
lifestyles and user-expectations and embrace new age modes of interaction such
as augmented reality which will have an impact on a wide array of areas in
spatial environments and on new working methodologies. And, of course, there
are the psychologies and philosophies surrounding emotional design they must
embrace. Other areas, such as multi-media semiotics, perceptual opportunities,
notions of the self within spatial contexts are areas evolving through research
and will aid in the design development of complex environments. Contemporary
issues relating to green issues and sustainability, ergonomics and
anthropometrics, and many other fields. All of which are pursued through the
sharing of knowledge, informal and formal critiques, group analysis and a
teaching and learning environment that reflects professional practise formats.
I teach because for my part research is important and it is passed on to my
students. I teach, simply because that is who I am and also because I have a
vested interest in the world and the
future.
