IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION A

Abstract

This paper offers an original contribution to pedagogical research by theorising and evidencing embedded academic support as dialogical praxis within interdisciplinary art and design education. Responding to the dynamic and layered pressures shaping contemporary learning—blurred boundaries between methods and content, intersectional knowledge fields, and widening participation—I argue for embedding academic support as a practice of openness. This openness is enacted through classroom activities where students, a high proportion of whom are EAL, are encouraged to reflect verbally and in writing, without pressure to meet a preconceived and intimidating version of academic writing and speech. Exercises are structured to afford co-creation with theoretical writing and focus on what is materially present in artworks as the basis for speculative reflection. Through exemplars of classroom practice—reflective writing, paired dialogue, concept extraction from artworks, and deep reading—students respond in ways that bring their own cultural worlds and lived experiences into dialogue with critical ideas, creating an intra-action between text, artwork, and learner. As educators, we teach in environments where parameters shift—from the spaces in which we assemble to the diversity of student cohorts. This paper discusses teaching practices at Central Saint Martins, UAL, that accommodate these changes. Drawing on Paulo Freire’s concept of praxis—reflection and action upon the world to transform it—this approach positions students as co-creators of knowledge rather than passive recipients and reframes academic support as collective praxis, not remedial skills service. It addresses the ‘hidden curriculum,’ disrupts the culture of silence among EAL students, and fosters belonging.