Dear All,
The conversation on mastery raises a great many issues. In reflecting
on Keith's comments, I observe that the criticism of the
apprentice-master relation addresses the problem of behaviors in the
craft guild tradition without respect to the actual state of mastery by
those that adopt these behaviors. Art and design schools emerge from an
artisan craft guild culture. As a result, many people that teach in such
schools claim the status of studio masters. This does not means that
they are masters. It merely means that they have adopted or emulated the
behaviors of masters seen in past generations. Despite these behaviors,
it is my contention that we do not have many masters among us. The
individuals I cited as exemplars of mastery demonstrate the open-minded
and humble collegiality that I often witness in the best figures in most
fields. This is one reason that I see them as exemplary masters, a state
different to high levels of technical competence.
Genuine mastery entails rich situated knowledge in an appropriate
context. In the deep traditions, this entails deep understanding similar
to W. Edwards Deming's concept of profound knowledge. There are many
examples of how mastery manifests in history, and we also have good
behavioral descriptions of mastery in the present day. I address some of
these in: Friedman, Ken. 1997. “Design Science and Design
Education.” In The Challenge of Complexity. Peter McGrory, ed.
Helsinki: University of Art and Design Helsinki, 54-72.
A PDF reprint is archived at:
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/189707
The relevant sections appear in pages 15-18 and 19-21 of the reprint.
These sections and the bibliography contain useful references to
historical examples of mastery in the Japanese ways of the sword makers
craft and tradition of the swordsman.
Best regards,
Ken
Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | Distinguished University
Professor | Dean, Faculty of Design | Swinburne University of Technology
| Melbourne, Australia | [log in to unmask] | Ph: +61 3
9214 6078 | www.swinburne.edu.au/design
Conference Co-Chair: Doctoral Education in Design - Practice,
Knowledge, Vision | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | May 22-25, 2011 |
www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/DocEduDesign2011
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