Tom Sutton

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

Kolb’s model has influenced education practices for nearly forty years. Its focus on ‘doing’ is closely aligned to cognitive activity. There is criticism that Kolb focusses on the individual grasping and transforming experience purely through the mind rather than the perceptual system and wider being. The reflective experiences of the research assistants/makers contributing to the Maker Project (Sutton, 2019) highlights how experience and sensory/emotive responses are not well served within Kolb’s existing paradigm. Adopting elements of Beard’s Holistic Experiential Learning Model (HELM), the Maker Project supports wider research which demonstrates how emotion, environment, and community contribute to the learning experience (Moon, 2000; Beard, 2023). This presentation seeks to re-situate non-cognitive processes at the heart of teaching and learning returning democracy to education. Echoing Sternberg’s (1996) theory that creative thinking should be considered ‘three dimensional’, we chart the evolution of the Experiential Learning Orbicular (Sutton, 2023) which allows for a pedagogically holistic and multi-directional application. This research provides methods to support deep learning throughout all levels of education, enabling a pedagogical paradigm that is meaningful, reflective, and well-structured for lifelong learners.

There is widespread agreement that UK crafts education is in serious
decline (Pooley and Rowell, 2016). This has knock-on effects for other areas
of education, such as we see in Kneebone’s claim detailing how medical
students lack basic fine motor skills related to craft skills.
This research suggests ways in which creative practice and craft skills can
be re-invigorated and effectively incorporated into pedagogic activities.
This process is explored via the design of a practical, skills-based project
(The Maker Project) involving a team of crafts-persons who were given the
opportunity to develop and document their practice in a totally openended way. The only stipulation was that they work with the same massproduced chair, and they keep records of their creative process.
Data was gathered using mixed methods including open dialogue, semi structured interviews, self-reportage and photo-journaling, followed by a
public survey questionnaire. This data was analysed using a modified and
enriched version of Kolb’s model of the Experiential Learning Cycle.
Results indicate a range of positive outcomes: pedagogic benefits are
easily achievable, health and wellbeing improvements are strongly
indicated, and creative community activity was enhanced. The analysis of
the Maker Project provides new information on the ways in which craft skills
and creative problem-solving skills circulate. Inspired by models of whole
life learning, the thesis argues that informal but intensive skills-based
education is a practical and effective means to enrich communities of
practice.