Reimagining Co-Design: Leveraging Culture, Rhythm & Embodiment
CfD Conversation Fall 2023–4 | December 8, 2023
Written by Julie Farkas
Pierre-Valery Tchetgen, a Center for Design Bridges Fellow, led a Conversations Series event about reimagining co-design to leverage the implicit knowledge we carry from our cultural heritage. Tchetgen’s current research project, entitled A Co-Design Approach to Developing Children’s Literacy and STEAM Skills Through Digital Drum Talk, uses design-based research to investigate learning through the systematic study of instructional strategies and tools. His team will run workshops focused on music-based, participatory approaches for engaging children in literacy and STEAM learning. These workshops will challenge dominant pedagogical practices related to children’s agency in learning, because very few studies that address early childhood interventions actually include children. The workshops are driven by technology, exploring how interactive, music-based activities that have shown promise in stimulating literacy behaviors can be developed and applied to actively engage children around STEAM concepts. The findings that will result from this work will enrich theory and practice in the fields of early childhood education, music technology and literacy research.
To introduce the broader cultural and educational concepts behind this project to the Center for Design’s audience, Tchetgen invited panelists to speak about their heritage and experiences. The panelists explored the challenges and prospects of co-design partnerships that aim to bridge academia with ancestral and cultural funds of knowledge. Jalene Tamerat, Associate Director of Community-Engaged Teaching and Research in the Office of the Chancellor at Northeastern University, joined Tchetgen as a moderator of the event. Sebastian Ellington Flying Eagle Ebarb, Cliff Lee, and Jane Effanga joined the panel as members of the Northeastern academic community. Ebarb is an Associate Teaching Professor of Art + Design, Lee is a Professor of Education, and Effanga is a graduate student in Experience Design. Jean Appolon, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Jean Appolon Expressions, rounded out the panel.
What do ancestral cultural values mean to you?
The discussion began with Tchetgen asking all of the panelists what ancestral cultural values mean to them.
Jane Effanga emphasized the idea that cultural funds of knowledge are tacit, meaning the knowledge was never explicitly taught. An example of this, for her, was her knowledge of sewing. Her grandma and mom knew how to sew, because according to her, people in Africa like to create their own clothing. Effanga absorbed the knowledge of sewing through exposure from her family and her culture.
Jean Appolon, though he didn’t grow up dancing himself, had a very artistic grandmother. Artistry is in his blood. He was interested in dance as a child, but was unable to express it due to the pressure of his culture’s gender roles. He felt liberated when he finally took lessons as a teenager. Though he was still subject to societal pressure and sometimes made fun of, the freedom he felt was more than worth it.
One of Jalene Tamerat’s research areas of interest is funds of knowledge pedagogy, specifically in K-12 schools. She described the idea that many scholars talk about funds of knowledge by deemphasizing culture and looking specifically at the learned practices that translate into obvious skills.
“When I looked at the funds of knowledge literature pertaining to pedagogical practices that happen in K-12 urban settings in particular, the way that a lot of scholars talk about funds of knowledge is…I think they often deemphasize culture and speak specifically to the learned practices that end up translating into actual skills. So it’s less of something that is like any cultural practice that people engage in, and more of, like, I know how to run a business because I have seen my parents doing it or I have spent time in a restaurant.” –Jalene Tamerat
In other words, Tamerat has noticed that traditional funds of knowledge deviate from ancestral or tacit funds of knowledge. Tamerat referenced a memory from teaching middle school social studies in Boston that embodied this deviation. She was leading a unit about Africa and showing a documentary that included a drumming ritual. She noticed that many of her Black students were tapping their feet to the beat under their desks, much more than other students who may not have had any ancestral connection to Africa. This moment sparked her interest, and she believes this idea needs to be explored more within the funds of knowledge scholarship.
Cliff Lee added that we should all recognize that objectivity in research is impossible. His own cultural funds of knowledge shape everything he does, and so do everyone else’s. Lee referenced indigenous epistemologies that recognize how knowledge has four dimensions–emotional, spiritual, cognitive and physical–and the dimensions are interconnected. He stated that we will never get to the heart of what learning is until we recognize all areas.
Sebastian Ebarb agreed with the tacitness of cultural funds of knowledge, but explained that he is working on understanding how much of what he knows is ancestral knowledge versus learned knowledge. Ebarb grew up in New York City but is part of the Apache tribe based in Louisiana. He explained that, though he was connected to the tribe through his family members and elders, he did not live there and was not always physically with the larger group. The example he gave of having ancestral knowledge is how he immediately picked up a skill in beadwork. He had never watched any videos or practiced before, but would get compliments on his self-taught work. How did he know how to do it? This situation led to his interest in differentiating cultural and ancestral knowledge from learned knowledge.
Tchetgen rounded out the discussion by explaining the notion of habitus in sociology and philosophy. We all have behaviors and values that come from our ancestry and cultural socialization. Tchetgen proposed that education should reflect and tap into that habitus.
“All cultures provide rich wealth from which inspiration can be drawn and guidance can be taken in terms of how to best help learners progress and evolve based on their own habitus, based on their cultural background, based on their funds of knowledge.” –Pierre-Valery Tchetgen
Community and trust at work.
Pierre-Valery Tchetgen and Jalene Tamerat directed questions to each of the other panelists that delved into how cultural values are at play in their work.
Jean Appolon, as a dancer and choreographer, teaches community dance classes locally. He designs his courses to tap into Haitian cultural practices. Tamerat has been taking his classes for years and points out how she and others have found connection and a sense of community, regardless of their backgrounds. Appolon thinks he has always been connected to people and drawn to their energy. His experience growing up in Haiti was of living in a town where everyone knew everyone else. He wanted to bring that sense of connection, safety, and trust to his new country. He intentionally tried to create the same sense of community in his classes.
“I wanted people to find something deeper than church, something that they can feel like they are growing together, they are expressing together, and they are learning together. So for me, I think that was the way they schooled me in Haiti and that’s the way I went into this class.” –Jean Appolon
Outside of his work as a professor, Sebastian Ebarb is a designer for indigenous clients. He acknowledges that tribes are not all the same, so even he may not know how best to represent a client. He often begins his work with a client by having a conversation about how he can best represent them. When he approaches a design process, he often begins his work with a client by having a conversation, bringing in other community members and knowledge-keepers. It is important to stay in contact in order to ensure that they are always being represented the way they want. In the world of academia, the practice of bringing in community members is just as important. Ebarb stressed that, in order to do the work the right way, continuous involvement of a multitude of partners is necessary. Those relationships need to be maintained or else things will fall apart.
“One of the things that I really appreciate about Native folks that I have found in working with them is that they are not quick to give up their knowledge, especially of themselves and of their people, and like you have to earn it. And the way that you earn it is showing up–not just when people need things and not just when you need something, but showing up and being a part of the community on a consistent basis, supporting the community on a consistent basis, and showing what you will do for the community before asking what the community can do for you.” –Sebastian Ebarb
Cliff Lee recently published a book, presenting stories of young people in underserved communities who effectively tapped into their cultural funds of knowledge to create digital products for social impact. The book centers the voices of marginalized youth to examine forms of oppression with an eye towards social impact. When working with these youth groups, Lee builds a community that cultivates trust and empowerment. He wants them to feel empowered to talk explicitly about some of the systemic and institutional challenges they face, and more specifically in the context of the technology they work with, to create new technological tools or redesign existing ones to speak against and challenge the one-dimensional view of what those tools were thought to be for.
Lee mentioned how the world of academia conditions its members to simply finish the project or paper and then move on to the next one, using the phrase “drive-by” research. But he believes it is much more than that. Academics need to see their partners as whole people, not just as wells from which to extract knowledge.
“I think of the work that I do with research participants–I don’t even call it research participants, but the community that we create to collectively learn together.” –Cliff Lee
Jane Effanga is a graduate student in the Masters in Experience Design Program at Northeastern University who works on Tchetgen’s project. The goal of the project is to develop a culturally responsive curriculum for early childhood education. As a design strategist on the team, Effanga has also recognized the importance of the community. In general, it is impossible to design for a group of people without hearing from them or incorporating their input. But more specifically to the project, the team is making sure to work with the parents of the children who are involved. The children are often too young to read or communicate with efficiency, so the team feels the weight of responsibility to explain what they know to the parents. In the end, even if the team designs a perfect curriculum, the parents and other adults in the community need to trust the team with their children.
“The people that you’re designing for–you need to hear their point of view so you’re not just designing based on your idea of what should be.” –Jane Effanga
Though the research project is still ongoing, there are already some strategies in place to engage the parents and other stakeholders. They are planning to host open houses and family literacy nights where the parents and children do the rhythm activities together. They will also be taking the Urban Griot Playground workshops to daycare centers to involve other teachers and early childhood practitioners in the playtesting and co-designing of the culturally-grounded ecology and curriculum. A third strategy will be hosting design clinics, inviting more general members of the community like faculty and students in music, design and education to help solve design problems relating to the project.
Looking to the future.
Tchetgen noted the commonality of the need for trust within communities for each panelists’ work. He then directed the conversation toward the future, asking what the panelists would like to see from community and cultural partnerships moving forward.
“How are we making space for and acknowledging the wealth of experience that individuals bring? So, one question that everybody on the panel can speak to…What are the possibilities, from your point of view–in terms of these university-community partnerships, in terms of leveraging culture, cultural values, cultural systems, and modalities around rhythm and embodiment and movement…Where has this work not gone before that you would like to see?…Where does it fall short in the academy–in terms of possibility, in terms of what you could envision–based on what actually is?” –Pierre-Valery Tchetgen
The panelists all agreed that trust was key. Appolon, as the only panelist who is tied to academia, repeated Lee’s earlier point about researchers being more authentic during their work with non-academic partners. Everyone has valuable knowledge to share, regardless of their background. Ebarb shared his internal conflict regarding an institution’s right to access the knowledge of marginalized communities. He ensures that he uses his position to only create positive or beneficial effects. Lee built on Ebarb’s comment, highlighting how exploitative research practices still exist. Therefore, researchers who intend to do good with their work are often met with distrust, even if they themselves are also members of those marginalized communities.
The panelists also discussed changing the reward, for lack of a better word, that a participant receives from working with researchers. Does a gift card really equate to the value of the information they share? Perhaps a level of visibility as a co-presenter or co-author is more equitable. Effanga added that another way to make a participant feel like the knowledge they shared was actually having an effect is to continue to involve them in the project after they completed their contribution. Show them the prototype that was designed based on their input. Prove that their contribution led to something worthwhile.
“What has been the complicity of these institutions?…That’s an important piece to recognize and to be mindful of and to acknowledge…And I also really appreciate the view on the trust and the hope that you bring…There’s infinite amounts of knowledge and connection that we can tap into.” –Pierre-Valery Tchetgen
Interested in learning more? Watch the event recording:
CAMD Moderators
Pierre-Valery Tchetgen: Fellow, Center for Design; Assistant Professor, Music and Art + Design, CAMD
Jalene Tamerat: Associate Director, Community-Engaged Teaching & Research, Office of the Chancellor
Panelists
Jean Appolon: Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Jean Appolon Expressions
Sebastian Ebarb: Associate Teaching Professor, Art + Design, CAMD
Cliff Lee: Professor, Education, Mills College
Jane Effanga: Experience Design MS, CAMD
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