Abstract

This article reports on an innovative interdisciplinary critical participatory action research (CPAR) project informed by transformative learning theory and critical pedagogy, facilitated through second-year fashion and industrial design students at a higher education institution in Johannesburg, South Africa. The project aimed to develop transformative learning among undergraduate design students by facilitating a critical design project focused on gender as a nuanced social construct with its intersections of race, class, and sexuality. Research integrated constructivist and critical pedagogy within the critical design framework to empower students to critically reflect on their own biases and assumptions, ultimately fostering transformative learning. Following the CPAR methodology, students were co-researchers, with their lived experiences, insights, and design responses formative to the research process. The design project tasked students to develop a concept of a board game titled “Intersections,” which draws attention to the social barriers to opportunity and resources that the majority of students face in higher education in South Africa. The project and board game both serve as transformative learning and data-gathering tools, inviting students to play and reflect on the game and add their personal experiences, which could later be added to, and help further develop, the game. Following a CPAR methodology, relevant design strategies, and tactics, this article reflects on the pedagogic underpinnings and outcomes of the project via the design outcomes and student reflections aimed at developing modes of design thinking through transformative learning.