Industrial Design Education: A Research on Generation Theories and Change in Turkey

Abstract

Due to their birth at the same time interval, according to the generation theories based on the idea that the individuals who were exposed to the same social, historical, and cultural events and thus have common experiences, similar attitudes to similar thoughts and behaviors, nowadays five generations, which are the Silent Generation, Baby Boomer, X, Y and Z Generations, live together. Each of these generations exhibits different tendencies in matters of work, family, and education because they encounter with different historical events, social relations and technological developments that help to see and make sense life from a different angle. Considering the individual who performs the design action and is affected by it, and relationship with the social structure due to the nature of the design, it is thought that generational differences will create similar differences in the approach to design action. Therefore, design education as a reflection of design practice will be affected by this difference. Thus, in this study to examine the change dynamics of industrial design education in Turkey within generations theories, in-depth interviews were conducted with different generations’ lecturers working in departments of industrial design in Turkey and data were compared within the framework of generations’ theories. As a result of the study, it was seen that changes in education parallel with characteristics of the generations due to changes of the generation of both the lecturers and the students. It also put forward the importance of being able to create a structure of education that is open to support changes.