Inclusive Signs: A Teaching and Learning Toolkit to Generate Inclusive Meta-Design Concepts

Abstract

The value introduced by informed teaching practices on Design for Social Inclusion is becoming widely accepted by many Design programmes worldwide, though students frequently struggle to propose novel concepts and design ideas from which to develop inclusive solutions. Both teachers and students often employ stereotyped concepts that ultimately lead them to propose ‘disabling solutions’. This inevitably brings emphasis on the urgency to equip students with original tools through which to design meaningful inclusive artefacts. This article presents ‘Inclusive Signs’, an innovative toolkit for students of Design programmes interested in making innovative solutions that adhere the Social Inclusion's key vision and broader concept. Tests carried out in university contexts with groups of students and designers resulted in an innovative range of inclusive ideas and projects showing the potential to include the toolkit within innovative teaching practices. Therefore, the toolkit easily allows students of Design programmes to get more awareness on how to develop original design processes and ideas closely linked to Social Inclusion.