Finding Self: Role of Conflict, Reflection, and Consciousness in Pedagogy of Place

Learning from place by observation, analysis, and representation, is an established practice in design pedagogy and research. However, not much has been discussed about the nature of individual’s relationship with self and their environment and its role in the quality of observation and research in place-based pedagogy in a changing social context. In this paper, I will discuss the practice of observation and its role to understand self and the relationship between self and environment in a larger context of knowledge creation as a fundamental objective for a design student. Drawing from a humanistic practice of approaching Design as a holistic social endeavor as opposed to a problem-solving activity, the paper is based on design studios I have facilitated over the past few years in the context of place-based education and under varied pedagogical structures. I choose to present three case studies from my practice as a filmmaker and an educator. I make a choice of these case studies because they come from my lived experience of learning from/in a place. In the first case, it is an Adivasi community where I was part of a team doing rehabilitation work after the tsunami in 2004 in the Nicobar Islands. In the second case, there are communities from the village Thirukargavur where I went with my students for a study and the third is in the context of suburban residential area where my students make their observations in their immediate surrounding. The three case studies ponder upon the learning experience using tools such as drawing, reflection, and an emergent process of knowledge creation relying not only on information but also on contemplation and consciousness.