A qualitative investigation to develop Interior Design pedagogy that foster students' creativity

This research seeks to develop interior design education by building a new pedagogical theory and practice that helps educators to foster students’ creativity. A new paradigm has been developed to determine students’ personality types inspired by Myers Brigs Type Indicators. This research focused on creativity as a personal characteristic because creativity is a fundamental quality required by all interior designers. The methodology adopted was a qualitative research approach using the Grounded Theory research paradigm to build an independent theory and practice in the field. Ethnographic observation in studios across three higher education institutions was the first method of collecting data. The focus was to observe students’ interactions, attitudes and behaviours with educators and peers, in order to understand the dynamic of the studio culture from different perspectives. Semi-structured interviews were the second method used to collect detailed explanations from the twenty-three participating students’ regarding their perceptions, personality types, and thinking styles in relation to creativity. Ten participating educators were interviewed on their perceptions of studio strategy, students’ creativity, and design thinking. Constructive interpretive analysis was used to analyse the data thematically and holistically in relation to the research aims and questions. The findings show a significant relationship between personality type, thinking style and creativity, which has great potential for pedagogical development. Building from this empirical finding, a new theory is adumbrated named: Personal Thinking Creative Design Theory. This emphasises the notion that creative designing (product or process) is based upon the individual designer’s qualities (personality type, thinking style and implicit meanings and values). Based on this theory, a pedagogical model is proposed that can be used creatively by interior design educators to help them understand their students and thereby foster their creativity.