In a recent podcast interview, I was prompted to discuss how design thinking might affect the day-to-day school experience. The question aimed to explore my views on the extent to which design thinking is being embraced and whether the approach would become mainstream across education or remain a specialized niche methodology adopted by only a handful of teachers.
In response, I highlighted that education is the only place where the design process isn’t widely embraced; it occupies a central role within the broader spectrum of our lives. The objects and tools we interact with daily have all been designed, some better than others. However, they all share a common origin – a journey through some application of the design process.
As the author of The Design Thinking Classroom, I am an advocate for a broader adoption of design thinking that incorporates the design process as part of a pedagogy. I acknowledge that bringing design into K-12 education is a formidable endeavor- a big ask. Transitioning from the conventional grind of unit-based lesson plans to a classroom centered around design is a substantial shift. To be clear, I don't dismiss the merits of the traditional educational approach; it has undoubtedly helped kids learn about their world. However, I question whether this approach equips students with the necessary skills and mindsets to navigate the complexity and velocity of the world.
There are a variety of ways in which classroom practice can employ the design process. In my book, I suggest that teachers begin by helping students build the fundamental design skills that will enable them to engage in real provocations as designers. I believe that a traditional course could be more than a series of units; rather, a course could be represented by a series of design provocations that shift from year to year.
I’d like to suggest an additional way to begin.
Any educator can start using design by adopting the unique attributes of the process and incorporating those into their daily practice. Such an approach values these as foundational elements of a classroom experience that can contribute to the development of a design-based learning culture. Teachers could start there and then consider expanding the application of design to incorporate the actual steps of the design process as an instructional framework, as I describe in detail in my book.
Here are five design elements essential for establishing a classroom based on design.
Design is human-centered. A design-based classroom is grounded by learning experiences for humans that stimulate their curiosity and creativity and place them in a position to interact and learn together. Seek to build relationships and community. Listen and understand your students; learn about their unique abilities, perspectives, and aspirations. Tell them about yourself, be kind, trust them, be fair with them, and get involved in their lives.
Design is grounded by an empathetic approach. We can safely assume that the students in a single class have different needs, come from different backgrounds, learn differently, and have different degrees of motivation to learn. Approaching this complex situation with empathy is essential when developing equitable learning experiences that recognize each learner's uniqueness and needs. Having a lens that sees students as young people without much life experience who are growing and trying to reach adulthood with all the pressures of school and growing up should ground us all. They’re just kids, after all, and they need different things. We can forget that sometimes.
Design is done with people, not for them. Engage your students in the design of learning experiences by consistently seeking their input. Offer them choices in how they use classroom time and space, who they learn with, and how they express their understanding. Cultivate a classroom environment that prioritizes inclusive participation and empowers them to take an active role in shaping their educational journey.
Design is biased towards action. In the spirit of design, try things and get better at them. Expect that from your kids also as novice learners. Let them improve what they do by considering that their work and actions are prototypes - an initial response to a question or challenge that can be improved through an iterative feedback and improvement cycle. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but get started. From one of my favorite designers, Bruce Mau: “Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and eros. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.” (1)
Design creates useful things. Much has been written by various educators about valuing process over product, but in the real world, people create things. It's easy to value process over product when the product is a grade or points on a test. In your classroom, shift from a transactional approach to a design-based transformational one where the product has value and meaning to students and has the potential to impact intellectual growth, spark personal development, or contribute to improving the human condition.
If you are interested in exploring design thinking, maybe a good place to start is to consider the qualities of design that I have described here. They would be a good starting point for learning and applying the design process. Don’t worry about the steps of the process or applying it as a pedagogy. Start here by embracing the essence of design, build a culture around design, and grow your practice and the experience that a design thinking approach can offer.
You can learn more about the attributes of the design thinking process in my book, The Design Thinking Classroom.
(1) “An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth — by Bruce Mau.” Medium, https://medium.com/@sangamnapit/an-incomplete-manifesto-for-growth-by-bruce-mau-f71e97ad2563. Accessed 5 September 2023.
Pencil photograph from Marcus Spiske on Unsplash
Started photograph from Jon Tyson on Unsplash