Design Thinking: Some Divergent Ideas to Consider

Have you read Jessica Lahey’s Article in the Atlantic?

How Design Thinking Became a Buzzword at School

The trendy concept is in high demand among educators, but its specifics are vague.

Jessica Lahey, January 4, 2017 The Atlantic

(https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/01/how-design-thinking-became-a-buzzword-at-school/512150/

Is Design Thinking a buzzword, a trendy concept and a concrete defined model for teaching or is it something that has key elements and a philosophical base that we build from to enhance teacher and student learning?

Is there a structured definition or is it highly dependent on the context, time and space of our learning environments?

After reading Jessica Lahey’s article (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/01/how-design-thinking-became-a-buzzword-at-school/512150/ I believe it is yet one more tool where educators and their students can engage in open, creative planning for inquiry based spaces for learning. It has the power to encourage all learners to be creative and flexible thinkers, be novel, brave and an innovator. Design thinking assumes anyone can be a creative problem solver and gives educators strategies that push learning in outward facing and innovative ways.

The lack of a clear definition for Design Thinking makes explaining and evaluating this “program” difficult and for some educators could create challenges in using this material. For me this is the gift we give our educators as we provide Professional Learning that opens up the wide array of thinking, research and practical evidence from our successful teaching models that we can then translate into practice in the context and space where we learn. Sir Ken Robinson’s session in Abbotsford this past week underlined this belief that we must keep both our teacher and student curiosity alive and active. Many educators in our BC system are taking advantage of and are supported in many opportunities to be creative and innovative. I am encouraged and optimistic by what I am beginning to see and hear discussed among our lead educators.

For me it is not a definition of any program or model that will make a difference for student engagement and learning. The way we identify, share and use these powerful ideas will make the real difference for our students and their learning.