Dear Norm
Many thanks for helping me to understand what you are
doing and why;

I especially appreciate the multicultural issues and
the awareness creation involved. However, I have some
doubts about whether this focuses understanding in a
design directed way - i.e.. moving toward some
intentional outcome to improve a situation (as
distinct to generating mutual understanding and shared
experience - both worthwhile.)

Much of the early work in group dynamics (Gordon,
Prince, etc.,) synectics especially, was great at
stimulating ideas through brainstorming and other
methods, but really quite poor at bringing them back
into the context of whatever problem was being
addressed - how to realize the potential of the
insights they afforded wasn't part of the technique. I
used to lead a role oriented approach (Burnette, 1982)
that addressed this problem in messy situations such
as how to select an ecologically oriented population
to develop a pristine island on socially equitable
grounds. (University of Washington, Seattle) or how to
develop an old railroad station to best serve a
diverse community (Yale). Or how to engage the
community in redevelopment of the Martin Luther King
boulevard in Miami (ACSA Educators Conference.) I
think the focus today may have shifted to
collaborative negotiation without keeping an eye on
how to get satisfying outcomes to design objectives.

One more technique regarding visual icons and cards:
Knoll manufacturing became concerned that their
factory people didn't understand the value of
designers and asked me to run a course for them at the
factory. At one session everyone was asked to draw a
minimal visual icon to represent an action word on the
back of their card. They then passed the icons around
for interpretation (without looking at the word). Ross
Lovegrove was at the factory that day and
participated. His icon was easily understood while
most of the others were not. The staff people suddenly
realized that there was something they could not do as
well as a designer and began to understand a little
about what designers can do. One even enrolled for a
degree.

Thanks again for your detailed explanation.

Best regards,

Chuck
Burnette, C.H.: 1982, A Role-Oriented Approach to
Problem Solving, in Olsen, S., Group Planning and
Problem Solving Methods in Engineering Management,
Wiley, NY

Dr. Charles Burnette
234 South Third Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: +215 629 1387
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Norm Sheehan
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 2:12 AM
To: Charles Burnette; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Design Learning


Hi Chuck

The program basis within which this methodology is
engaged is grounded in
Indigenous understanding...the philosophy of
Aboriginal Australians which i
have presented as being similar or at the very least
related understandings
generalised across the several hundred Nations which
make up this group of
peoples.

This approach is moral in terms of this general
Indigenous understanding in
that it is an expression of the proper-way for humans
to engage within a
knowledge context. The basis for this morality is a
natural systems
understanding of the world which recognises that all
systems have knowledge
and that human knowledge is but one of these many
enmeshed understandings.
In this natural systems understanding if one kind of
knowledge (also one
species when translated into English) comes to
dominate then the whole of
systems is thrown off balance and some knowledge
systems die. This
conception of knowledge held in balance is moral
because the attempt to
institute one form of knowledge as dominant over
others is considered to be
either gross arrogance or incredible
stupidity...because all natural
systems are vital to keep the whole of environments
healthy...a state that
we all recieve the greatest benefit from.

Brisbane Old 4072 Australia