What is it?
Design thinking is a flexible framework that educators use to get the most out of the creative process. It’s not about memorizing information and spitting it out again for a test.
Students learn through projects. The students learn to understand how processes work and how to navigate new ideas. Then, they get practice using what they have learned and finding solutions. They focus on using their creativity to create answers that work for real people.
How is it used?
Rather than teach one subject in a vacuum, students study a variety of subjects integrated into a cohesive learning experience based in the real world. Students imagine projects, think them through, then create, test, and improve upon the original. Finally, the projects go out into the world to benefit real people.
Design thinking focuses on creating action-oriented solutions through students’ gathering and understanding knowledge, using the information creatively to problem solve, and working in awareness of others.
Why?
Some of our best learning, as children or as adults, is often focused around a topic we thought was really interesting.
Design learning gives teachers and students the freedom to find problems, questions, ideas, and goals that students can be passionate about. The first step is igniting the spark. Then teacher guide students through a creative process toward a solution. In this way, learning and evolving happens as they work.
Students stop being vessels who feel crammed full of unassociated facts and become searchers who can shape knowledge around their own interests and environment. They find answers, solutions, processes, and results through their engagement in their own learning.
