Sociology of education and the design field: Operationalising the theory

This research investigates how knowledge and identity are specialized within the field of design, particularly focusing on engineering, architecture, digital media and fashion. In this paper, we present a Bersteinian approach to the development of the research’s languages of description. Methodological implications are discussed through the lessons we have learned in the development of research instruments (e.g. the interview questionnaire and the survey protocol), and the mapping of the theory to empirical data and vice versa. We also present how Basil Bernstein’s concepts of classification and framing and Karl Maton’s concepts of ‘legitimation codes’, combined with the empirical results, might support instructional purposes when embedded in an e-learning environment about experiencing the practice of design in the informal learning setting of a museum.