Abstract
Recognising the importance of applied practice as pedagogic method, this chapter seeks to re-situate both embodied and non-cognitive processes at the heart of teaching and learning-a return step towards democracy and education. Echoing Sternberg's theory that creative thinking should be considered 'three dimensional', this study charts the evolution of the Experiential Learning Orbicular (ELO), a paradigm which allows for pedagogically holistic and multi-directional application. Recording the reflective experiences of eleven research assistants/makers, Sutton's 'Maker Project' highlights how experience and sensory/emotive responses inform real-world experiential learning; a principle not well represented within Kolb's existing paradigm. Each Maker Project case study places the participant central within the learning experience, as prescribed by Beard, stimulating an immersive educational experience. Ancestral learning, collaboration and co-creation, sensory perception and emotive response all become common qualities throughout the studies. The findings from this research endorse the evolution of the Experiential Learning Orbicular, and its potential for supporting a deeper learning experience throughout all levels of education. The chapter concludes with reflections on how to apply this research to current innovation in teaching delivery. A pedagogical paradigm informed by real-world applied design experience provides a structure that is meaningful, reflective, and accessible for lifelong learners. INTRODUCTION The UK education sector is in crisis with robust evidence for the ongoing regression of skills in arts and design education, and the related decline of crafts emphasising this long-term trajectory. 1 Sternberg, Kumar and Robinson all discuss the negative impact of an increasing test culture within education where academic hierarchy devalues vocational learning, especially creative subjects. This is decimating the Further and Higher Education environments, both experiencing heavy year-on-year regression in student numbers studying creative subjects. The regression in arts and humanities-based subjects within schools over the past decade is undeniable, with a 40% decrease in key stage 4 students taking exams in the arts, design technology and music at GCSE level. 2 The same subjects studied at GCE A-Level are equally sobering, despite an increase of 5-15% from 2021 to 2022; in reality, within the past decade numbers have dropped by 44%. The negative impact of these figures on adult education, not simply reduced numbers but regression in creative, technical and practical skills, accentuates the relevance and importance of this research study. Within and beyond the arts the 'how, why', and 'what' questions of