Any expedition begins with an invitation.
It's the entrance, the opportunity to step across the threshold into something new that sets the stage for everything to follow.
In the design work I do, I want to provide that invitation and the pathway of experiences that can help you shape a new story for your organization.
Changing how organizations function is a challenge. Ultimately, the invitation, and the process that follows, should enable compelling shifts that lead to the creation of a new organizational mindset.
In the engagements I design, I seek to support you in creating deep organizational change by helping you create those shifts. That takes time and effort of course, and is predicated on an inclusive process that supports and engages, pushes when necessary, and challenges people to think and act beyond the constraints of their current conditions and culture. Creating a new organizational mindset means creating a new lens and worldview that is broader and sees differently, crafting a language capable of supporting that capacity, and growing a membership that possesses the skills and dispositions that support an ever-evolving capacity to grow and improve in a world that absolutely demands it.
How we write that story together is what I am interested in. How we create the conditions for making a difference is the challenge. How we do this together is the opportunity ahead.
NEW! Watch for the upcoming release of The Design Thinking Classroom Method Card Deck, a tool to help educators build design thinking experiences.
Also, online learning courses and book studies will be available as well as a variety of professional development options.
It’s here! My new book: The Design Thinking Classroom
I’m proud to announce that my new book is now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The book is based on my 36-year career as a teacher, school administrator, technologist, and designer. The book presents a case for the design of a new classroom experience led by a new vision for the classroom teacher, the educator-designer. The book provides an overview of the design thinking process, paints a picture of a design thinking-based classroom experience, and provides strategies for using design thinking as a part of contemporary pedagogy. I’ve also included my perspectives on creating physical and virtual learning environments that can support a new classroom experience. Most importantly, the book provides a complete guide for rethinking what can happen in classrooms, how design can drive those shifts, and how every teacher, regardless of experience and assignment, can create learning experiences that help students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will help launch their lives. Selected Reviews | Chapter Lineup
PURCHASE THE BOOK at Amazon or Barnes & Noble
This is a before-and-after shot of a classroom design for the ASJUSD Learning Spaces Pilot Program. Access a slider view here.
What DJD is working on:
DJD will be working with Florida Gulf Coast University to redesign their makerspace in the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship.
DJD is partnering with the Aromas-San Juan School District (CA) to conduct a pilot learning spaces program with nine classrooms and a professional learning center. The program has launched and will continue through the second semester of 2024.
DJD will be working with INVISION Architecture of Waterloo, IA, to support the design of a new innovation learning center in Ankeny, IA. DJD recently completed a white paper for the firm on what constitutes successful improvement strategies for urban education.
DJD is writing a new American Institute of Architecture Learning Unit Course for Fomcore Furniture of Muskegon, MI. The course focuses on “elevating the human experience” in the context of emerging technologies.
DJD is providing a design framework for Fomcore Furniture’s new showroom space in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, IL. The framework will be based on transitioning the space from a showroom to an experience that aligns with Fomcore’s unique culture.
DJD will be returning to Katonah-Lewisboro School District (NY) to present at its Summer Creators Camp. This will include a leadership workshop on design thinking.
DJD is completing the design of a new method card deck on classroom AI integration. This will be available in the near future from a new e-commerce platform DJD is building. Also, look for a deck that supports schools and districts in their organization planning efforts associated with AI.
The Design Thinking Classroom: My book on using design thinking to reshape the classroom is now available at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. See the above announcement on this page or get more information!
Featured Resource: DJD Design Gallery
David Jakes Designs LLC has worked with education clients to provide concept designs for their spaces. This work ranges from classrooms and libraries to makerspace, entrepreneurial spaces, and innovation centers. The portfolio presents nine projects, complete with visual representations of the space designs. This work has been done in partnership with Jason Meyering Architecture of Chicago, Illinois.
BELOW: Aromas-San Juan Unifed School District (CA) learning spaces pilot program spaces. The program includes nine spaces across K-12 and a professional development studio.
MY DESIGN PARTNERS
““This past year, I’ve traveled the globe, presented to thousands of educational leaders, and hosted over 57 schools/organizations to our school, and one topic of discussion always comes up, “David Jakes!” There are an abundance of educational consultants that claim to enhance school organizations, and then there is David Jakes, who actually does. If you’re ready to create an experience unlike any other for your students, staff, and school community, then David Jakes is your champion to make that experience a reality.””
“David Jakes fully engaged the Racine Public Library staff and board of trustees in a robust planning process that probed into the heart of what our library is all about. Library staff reported that his workshops with them were the best they’d ever attended. He pushed back when he heard something that was discordant, getting us to think hard about what we do and why we do it. He followed up on threads that were similar and pulled things together to form a beautiful mosaic for our strategic plan. The manifesto he created is a true representation of what he heard from the board and staff, and what the community wants to see. His process is creative and engaging. I feel very fortunate to have worked with David and recommend him highly.”
Get people ready for ideas.