Detour from the Studio: Novelty and Walking as an Approach to Decentre Studio Learning

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Detour from the Studio: Novelty and Walking as an Approach to Decentre Studio Learning

Nutter, Digger (2025) Detour from the Studio: Novelty and Walking as an Approach to Decentre Studio Learning. In: GSA Learning and Teaching Conference 2025 Diverse Learner Journeys: Supporting Students to Succeed, 10-06-2025 and 11-05-2025, online.

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Creators/Authors:

Nutter, Digger

Abstract:

This session builds on a published case study (Detour from the Studio, Nutter, 2025) exploring the potential of paired walking as a pedagogic tool in art and design education. Based on a small-scale study with Year 3 Interior Design students, the project investigates how walking beyond the studio can foster meaningful dialogue, shape project development, and encourage alternative ways of engaging with place.

Drawing on collaborative learning theory, art walking practices (Cardiff, 1999; Biserna, 2022), and musical walking scores (Neuhaus, 1979), the study considers how learners navigate and interpret this ‘decentered’ experience. Participants in the session will be guided through a walking video with live narration, encountering the rhythms, dislocations, and conversational texture of the original research.

The session reflects on how unfamiliar learning settings influence knowledge construction and participation and how students may struggle to recognise learning beyond conventional studio environments. Attendees will gain practical strategies for integrating novelty and place-awareness into their own teaching while considering how movement, space, and relational dialogue can strengthen engagement, belonging, and critical thinking.

Output Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Lecture)

Additional Information:

Research Question This work investigates: To what extent can small group walking activities promote relevant and contextual place-contingent discussions among interior design students? The project explored how walking, as a low-stakes yet conceptually rich practice, might enable students to engage in dialogue, reflect, and reimagine their work beyond the constraints of the studio environment. Methods The session draws on a practice-based case study with Year 3 Interior Design students at Glasgow School of Art. Two structured paired walks were designed using zines containing prompts informed by art walking practices, sound scores, and collaborative pedagogy. Students walked to predetermined locations while responding to the prompts, later participating in group discussions and completing feedback questionnaires. Data were collected through post-walk surveys and two audio-recorded focus groups, then analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). The analysis revealed themes around attention, uncertainty, novelty, and the tension between visibility and value in decentered learning settings. For the conference, the findings were re-presented through a walking video that moved through GSA’s campus buildings, overlaid with the author’s voice, and accompanied by a live, side-by-side commentary via Zoom. Context of Contribution Presented on 11 June 2025 as part of GSA’s Learning and Teaching Conference, this session responded to the subtheme Strengthening Student Engagement, community and Belonging within the wider theme Diverse Learner Journeys: Supporting Students to Succeed. The session combined video and live narration to create an immersive, dual-format presentation. Viewers followed a narrated walk through familiar and unfamiliar spaces at GSA while engaging with live reflections on the pedagogic process, accessibility, and student experience. The presentation offered practical and conceptual insight into how movement, detour, and dialogic methods can expand traditional teaching practice, particularly in creative disciplines. It also contributed to conversations about how educators can help students recognise and value experiential, relational learning when it occurs beyond the studio.

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Walking Pedagogy, Belonging, Experiential Learning, Studio Education, Dialogue

Schools and Departments:

Learning & Teaching

Dates: