Empowering responsible design literacy: Identifying narratives in a new curriculum

Abstract

Products of human creativity have altered nature to such an extent that a new geological epoch was proposed, the Anthropocene, wherein we keep failing together. Integrating design in any curriculum fuels change by exploring and questioning existing knowledge and situations. A pressing global situation requires a fundamental redirection of the purpose of design and of design education to advance socioecological sustainability. This paper reviews the competence goals of the new Norwegian national curriculum in the subject Art and Crafts for primary and lower secondary education (Years 1–10) through a framework consisting of four narratives on cultivating responsible design literacy. The narratives that support the reflective practices within a studio are widely represented in the competence goals, whereas the narratives that shift the focus to the society outside the studios and might encourage projects that challenge pupils to fundamentally rethink human needs and desires are scarcely represented. The four narratives break the concept of design literacy into tangible pillars that show how to advance socioecological responsibility, navigate the complexity and ethical concerns of human living, and advance design responses that care for both people and the planet.