Miss Sofie Boons
| Post Nominals | MA SFHEA |
|---|---|
| Biography | Sofie Boons is a jewellery designer/maker currently working as Senior Lecturer in Design Crafts at the University of the West of England and Lecturer at the Jewellery and Metal department at the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom. She recently completed a 4-year Crafts Council Research Fellowship as Research Associate at the Centre for Print Research and is completing a Ph.D. investigating the design implications, possibilities and limits of utilising man-made crystals in the development of jewellery. Prior to starting her research, Sofie worked as the Head of Academy for the British Academy of Jewellery. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2013 she has continually exhibited her work internationally under the moniker ‘The Alchemical Jeweller’ and her artefacts are held in the collections of a range of industry leading galleries. |
| Research Interests | Crystal Growth, Craft , Design, Jewellery and Metalwork |
| Teaching and Learning | Have been working in education for over a decade, I have taught and am teaching at several institutions including the University of the West of England, the Royal College of Art, the British Academy of Jewellery, the University of the Arts London and the Hochschule Trier (Germany). My teaching philosophy is a combination of independent thinking through making (developing embodied skills, enabling the dedication of sufficient time to the acquiring of skills (Sennett, 2008)) and engaging in reflective thinking through collaborative inquiry (Socratic pedagogy (Chesters, 2012)). I am passionate about challenging traditional techniques through innovation and am a firm believer in providing students with individual support in order to meet their individual needs, and in a broader sense, their long-term goals and objectives. Adapting the learning to align with students’ long-term goals encourages active involvement in their educational journey (Ainley, 2006) – success is a personal definition - and I would like to contribute to the building of an educational format where students can work towards meaningfully constructing and achieving their own agile definitions of success. |