06 | Richie Moalosi | Ubuntu co-creation process- Indigenising the design process
(2017-06-21)

The purpose of this study was to examine the decolonisation of design education praxeology, that is, the practices and processes of design. Despite attempts of developing culturally responsive design practices, African voices have not succeeded in indigenising design education. As part of decolonising the design education in Africa, it is time to take the creative risk of valuing imagination, the poetic, the symbolic, the aesthetic or the spiritual as factors of the society’s innovation, and social progress. Furthermore, most successful creative people have all looked at the traditions, history and culture and then built on them. However, culture is still considered on the fringe of educational, economic and societal development in new emerging economies such as Botswana. Indigenous knowledge should be seen as an important resource for creativity and innovation. Such a resource should be given greater prominence in the broader policies on the knowledge economy, innovation and social cohesion. Curriculum review and development should be developed to create new educational programmes which stimulate creativity and preserve cultural heritage.