My approach to teaching links pedagogy to the realities of practice by providing opportunities for reflection and awareness of development, and positioning students at the centre of the learning to form their current and future identity as a designer. This is exemplified through concepts based on the implicit knowledge presented in the work of Donald Schön (1983), including the processes of critically reflecting on the various activities that students have done. I believe much modern education is characterised by Luka (2014) and Rittel and Webber’s (1984) term “wicked”. This term exemplifies ill-defined problems, where multiple solutions may be equally valid, where problems are essentially unique, and where constructing these problems can be intentionally difficult or impossible within the traditional sense of educational practice. While I realize that characterizing much of educational learning in schools as a potential “wicked” problem may seem like an impossible obstacle to overcome, the focus of my pedagogy works to embrace this challenge. By revealing to students that what they are learning in the classroom applies to the real world, the learning becomes more relevant and meaningful to their lives both in and outside of the school environment. It does so by focusing on how students interact with the design thinking model, and how they embrace putting inquiry into action to begin their own process of reflection.
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I hope to model this behaviour through formal and informal learning scenarios, emphasizing the need for students to engage and apply learning tasks to real-world contexts and problems. Learning isolated facts in the classroom is easy, but engaging in real-world, “wicked” problems with no easy solution is challenging, and brings students to a point where they are collaborating with their fellow peers, as well as with teachers, to become co-designers of their learning. The framework outlined in design thinking affords students to do just that. I also hope to encourage deeper thinking by using a variety of means, both through externalizing design-based solutions in the moment of creativity, and through formal reflection and encouraging a multimodal approach for students to represent and showcase their understanding and learning (Gray & Siegel, 2014).
"It's not 'us versus them' or even 'us on behalf of them.' For a design thinker, it has to be 'us with them.'"
- Tim Brown, CEO and President of IDEO (Campos, 2014, p. 3)
Every student brings a unique approach to participating in the design thinking process, which binds together the beliefs and experiences of that student in the process of design and is permeated throughout their final designed solution. The various notions above structures some of my core values about design and the design process, which portrays my design philosophy. In viewing design thinking, I believe that it is vital to view design as change; a process with an artifact that is situated in time and space and presents a natural human ability and endeavor (Nelson & Stolterman, 2012).
Based on the key insights outlined above and within this design thinking philosophy, for future implications of these insights, I want to understand what students face now and in future practice, so that I may continually develop my design expertise and competencies, and actively apply my skills in designing real-world projects for my future students. Design thinking is truly the way of the future in terms of educational theory and practice, and it is important for this new generation of teachers to have a solid grasp and understanding of this process and theory. By understanding that real-world problems require complex processes, such as empathizing, ideating, and testing potential solutions, design thinking encompasses the 21st Century Skills that are being implemented in virtually every classroom, and will be present within our future classrooms. The future implications of these insights allows for the appropriate and rich application of these 21st Century Skills, in a way that provides an authentic, and engaging learning environment for all students (Rocky View Schools, 2017).
References
Campos, J. (2014). TD at work: The learner-centered classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development.
Gray, C. M. & Siegel, M. A. (2014). Sketching design thinking: Representations of design in education and practice. Design and Technology Education, 19(1), 48-
61. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1119769.pdf
Luka, I. (2014). Design thinking in pedagogy. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 2, 63-74. Retrieved from
http://nowadays.home.pl/JECS/data/documents/JECS=202014=20=282=29=2063.74.pdf
Nelson, H. G., & Stolterman, E. (2012). The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rittel, H., & Webber, M. (1984). Planning problems are wicked problems. In N. Cross (Ed.), Developments in design methodology (pp. 135-144). Chichester, MA:
John Wiley & Sons.
Rocky View Schools. (2017). Instructional design framework. Airdrie, AB: Rocky View School Division. Retrieved from
http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/21stC/teaching/inquiry/do/instructional-design-framework
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Based on the key insights outlined above and within this design thinking philosophy, for future implications of these insights, I want to understand what students face now and in future practice, so that I may continually develop my design expertise and competencies, and actively apply my skills in designing real-world projects for my future students. Design thinking is truly the way of the future in terms of educational theory and practice, and it is important for this new generation of teachers to have a solid grasp and understanding of this process and theory. By understanding that real-world problems require complex processes, such as empathizing, ideating, and testing potential solutions, design thinking encompasses the 21st Century Skills that are being implemented in virtually every classroom, and will be present within our future classrooms. The future implications of these insights allows for the appropriate and rich application of these 21st Century Skills, in a way that provides an authentic, and engaging learning environment for all students (Rocky View Schools, 2017).
References
Campos, J. (2014). TD at work: The learner-centered classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development.
Gray, C. M. & Siegel, M. A. (2014). Sketching design thinking: Representations of design in education and practice. Design and Technology Education, 19(1), 48-
61. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1119769.pdf
Luka, I. (2014). Design thinking in pedagogy. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 2, 63-74. Retrieved from
http://nowadays.home.pl/JECS/data/documents/JECS=202014=20=282=29=2063.74.pdf
Nelson, H. G., & Stolterman, E. (2012). The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rittel, H., & Webber, M. (1984). Planning problems are wicked problems. In N. Cross (Ed.), Developments in design methodology (pp. 135-144). Chichester, MA:
John Wiley & Sons.
Rocky View Schools. (2017). Instructional design framework. Airdrie, AB: Rocky View School Division. Retrieved from
http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/21stC/teaching/inquiry/do/instructional-design-framework
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York, NY: Basic Books.