Please join us for a weekly conversation about design thinking in K12 education. We will have a variety of moderators with a wide range and depth of design thinking experiences. Each week, we will connect the dots to the design thinking methodology and how it can and will play a bigger role in today’s K12 educational arena.
Trevor from the DC suburbs here! I teach 10th grade English and just started experimenting with how Design Thinking will look in my classroom. Got some cool stuff planned I’m excited about! #dtk12chat
I know this isn't technically a question, but it counts as Q1/A1 :) I'm Lyn from PA, former principal and elem. teacher, now community manager for @ModernLearners and consultant. Watching my kids, I'd say modern learners are inquisitive, resourceful, and empathetic. #dtk12chat
This question came out fast and will hang around for a bit. Really interested in hearing your ideas! Can we even spend time with the "what" and "how" before we know the "Why?" (asks @willrich45 on a regular basis) #dtk12chat
Hey, #dtk12chat! So I recently started talking to my ITRT/tech superhero @mrbillywatts about design thinking and he’s seeing the workflow everywhere! If anyone has any #edtech related content, PD, etc. share it with him.
A2 Design thinking can help a school identify and prioritize its values and make decisions based on those drivers. It can help people align their thinking and their learning with those drivers for a common purpose #dtk12chat
#dtk12chat A2) Yes, and there are numerous entry points for accomplishing this muy importante endeavor. #1-- You need a safe environment to ask the honest questions without endangering the questioner or the 'owner' of the idea/system/tradition.
Sorry! I'm here. Just been a long day and as I was setting up for the tweet, I languished in the arms of Morpheus, as Alfred the butler on TV's Batman used to say.
#dtk12chat
How does DT help bring so many different perspectives and value systems together to emerge with one big Why? As @ChristianLong would say, to identify your Non-Negotiable? #dtk12chat
A1: Wow, this is a big question! I'd say yes - mostly because I believe in the power of DT, but struggling to wrap my brain around how to explain #dtk12chat
A2: digging into the why is a big part of DT process. Going deep & understanding people is part of empathy. & as we do this work (if we are genuine, honest, & transparent), we also dig deep into ourselves & uncover our own whys. dtk12chat
Finding and agreeing to a common "why" is essential and so empowering when a school community finds it; how time and other resources are allocated indicates what a school values; when allocation is random, it is because values are unclear and inconsistent #dtk12chat
We love big questions at @ModernLearners :) Hoping to put some out there tonight that will cause you to ruminate for days and weeks on end ;) #dtk12chat
A2: digging into the why is a big part of DT process. Going deep & understanding people is part of empathy. & as we do this work (if we are genuine, honest, & transparent), we also dig deep into ourselves & uncover our own whys. dtk12chat #dtk12chat
I think what I love most about design is how much planning it encourages. So often our work in edu lacks planning bc of structural time constraints. How might we design the use of time to better support learning. #dtk12chat
A2: I think design thinking can help schools uncover their why. It allows students to develop ideas and test them. This process helps students take ownership in their thoughts and truly make sense of why they are solving a problem. #dtk12chat
#dtk12chat A3) Do not under rate UNLEARNING. Stop worrying about content, targets, proficency levels, etc. Start focusing on possibilities, empathy, tapping into strengths and passions to work toward what is true, beautiful, and good. (as inpsried by @ProjectZeroHGSE)
A3: to start, unlearn- the idea that there is one right answer, that the T or any 1 person is always the expert in the room, that learning is neat & quiet #dtk12chat
A3 #dtk12chat I think Christian Long's observation that we must unlearn the mechanical listening of "So what I hear you saying..." and move to "Tell me more" or "I was wondering about..." is a key place to start.
A3 unlearning that there is a front of the classroom (there isn't); unlearning hierarchy in favor of ensembles; unlearning distrust and replace it with authentic empowerment #dtk12chat
A2: I love this question. When it comes to bigger, more complex systems like schools, districts, etc. it’s so easy to forget that this is a deeply personal, human profession. Design thinking keeps empathy and humanity in focus when dealing with complex problems. #dtk12chat
I love how design constraints act as competing commitments, but when we experience competing commitments we must prioritize and lean into the discomfort of the potential conflict whether it be real or perceived. #dtk12chat
A3 When I think about LIFE, I think adults have more unlearning to do than our kids. We gather so much baggage. One reason why I found DT so useful is that, in one sense, it is a very mindful practice...lots of Zen practitioners in this sapce #dtk12chat
Yes, and that is exhausting. Never feeling accomplished is enervating. Focus on agreed purpose lets the little stuff slip away and people come together! #dtk12chat
And educators are committed, emotionally, to the core of everything they do. It's why change in any form often threatens their ideas of who they are as professionals. #dtk12chat
Q4: Modern learners have opportunities to connect, collaborate, and create in ways never before possible. How does design thinking help learners explore what’s now possible? #dtk12chat
A3: Students have to unlearn traditional teaching: sitting quietly, writing down everything the teacher says, waiting to be told how to think. Also, students have to unlearn the negative stigma of making mistakes for design thinking to truly impact modern learners. #dtk12chat
Loving this chat. The party store with the traditional nephew birthday balloon closes at 7pm. Gonna have to take a car break here in a moment. This became the tradition cuz they were always out of all the other ones. #birdwalk#dtk12chat#nephews❤️
a1- Hi my name is Carol Egan I am an 8th grade math teacher and currently in an Med principal program- 3 words: tech connected, sleep deprived; instant gratification #DTK12CHAT
A4 design thinking enables students to live in beta! By asking how might we... students are thinking beyond what they already can do and about what they could become able to do #dtk12chat
So true. We personalize our pedagogy and often perceive innovation as a sleight to methods that are central to our professional (and often personal) identity. I think DT helps us let our guard down some because the very first step acknowledges those emotions. #dtk12chat
A2: Absolutely. Starts with teachers first, using empathy to shape their practice & uncovering their own WHYs. With teacher-led innovation, school culture can truly shift and impact the school’s big WHY. #dtk12chat
Hi, I am a social studies teacher at Roosevelt Community Education Center, an alternative high school in Rockford, IL. I am getting my MEd in a principal program. #dtk12chat
agreed! Sometimes directives from District Office feel like they should be test driven by actual teacher/students before implemented; or enough wiggle room allowed for teacher choice #dtk12chat
The piece of DT that we might not talk about enough is the importance of documenting the entire creation process. When choosing between documenting and creating...I choose documenting creatively.😜 does that count? #dtk12chat
The easiest why is asking that question to teachers. I have found that starts the change conversation and get the passion back in them. The barriers start to erode once you have your why. #dtk12chat
Yes I think design thinking can help a school develop a why- also this is what we ultimately strive for a teachers is to have students problem solve using their own developed processes #DTK12CHAT
A2: Yes, design thinking can help us uncover the why. What fun to figure out through several sessions! Faculty meetings? Involving students, parents, teachers, staff, admin #DTK12Chat
I'm constantly reminded of this by you! Still working on it. But it serves as one of the best tools for reflection and offers transparency in the process! #dtk12chat
A4: Modern learners can learn from each other through multiple representations, discussions and building on each other's ideas which allows students to conceptualize and make sense of processes and solutions. #dtk12chat
Charlie Parker had the right idea: "Master your instrument; master the music; and then forget all that bullshit and just play." #dtk12chat But you can't really put a poster of this on a school wall.
In reply to
@lynhilt, @lndeutsch, @DunlapSarahe, @_Continuum
Leaders need to create conditions for teachers to reconnect to their why...and ultimately the work. This will be different for everyone. Ask each person what he/she needs. #dtk12chat
Willingness to unlearn is flexible thinking and fundamental to design thinking; when we resist unlearning we may have a why, fear it is lacking relevance and still not want it to change (fear, tired, etc.) #dtk12chat - how do we empathize with those resistant to unlearning?
I think a great place to start is for leaders to meaningfully, intentionally connect with teachers...using deep empathy work to discover insights about their staff’s needs and experiences. #dtk12chat
And then shifting the focus to what is relevant to the student's lives and how school can help them understand their world and the future world they want to live in. #dtk12chat
A6: It has to be used for more than just a cool lesson/project. If a principal uses it to address system issues and such, then it’s value outside class is modeled #dtk12chat
A3: unlearnings should include the need for adults to find the answers alone or first, also the idea of winners, Losers, the idea that the answer is the final answer #DTK12Chat
Fear is prevalent in losing relevance. And being tired of making changes. I keep trying to show that shifting the mindset might be more work during the class time, but requires less creation of materials outside and more energy surrounding the work. #dtk12chat
a4: I think one of the fundamentals of design thinking is not including boundries or parameters to solving a problem. It allows students to use creativity and risk a wrong turn or too as false starts are just part of the journey to finding a solution. #DTK12CHAT
A4: DT can help give reason to connect and collaborate with an authentic audience; broadens Ss view of world and how they can play a role beyond the classroom #dtk12chat
A5: We can make it part of our culture by allowing more collaboration in classrooms. We also have to give more open-ended, deeper problems instead of problems with one solution and individual problems from every learning target on our pacing guide. #dtk12chat
I’m the statewide system coach for #udl, and to make that part of the culture means stepping waaaayyyyy back. It’s not the framework of UDL or DT that impacts the culture. Frameworks after purpose and beliefs... #dtk12chat
A5 #dtk12chat culture is embedded in the language we use. When our language is inclusive, speaks of possibilities rather than singular answers, when it deals in multiplicities and "yes, and" then we can begin to make space for DT.
A5 culture is about routines & rituals; a school can consciously adopt new protocols and turn them into routines; Meeting agendas, curriculum writing, structure of open house & conferences... all are opportunities for collaborative problem solving #dtk12chat
A5: I feel like this is the answer to Q1; if admin uses DT to address culture of school with team approach and public the Why of the school will be revealed #dtk12chat
Documenting what the students are doing is key. As students read to understand, keep a running list of the resources they are using. Share that with the administration. Show them the power of what you are doing. Control the narrative. #dtk12chat
Agreed. Have a principal who wanted to rethink her “villages” and we used DT process. Not only did it help with her project, but Ts used the strategies in class for other things too #dtk12chat
What does that look like from the leadership perspective? Sometimes leaders are hesitant to approach DT in their roles b/c it might not fit the stereotypical "project-based" learning that happens in classrooms. #dtk12chat
A4: design thinking helps learners see problems or questions through different lenses. Imagine how much better our country would be if our politicians could creatively problem solve by understanding various perspectives that allowed them to solve problems for all! #DTK12Chat
agreed! It's not just knowing the facts, but what you do with them... how do you apply them, what can be inferred and transferred because of the knowledge gained #dtk12chat
In reply to
@MrAleoSays, @lynhilt, @MrMarkHeintz, @RKonops
A5) more than anything staff needs to have training as to the language & "yes and" mentality. When people begin to see the value it will grow throughout the school. I have seen it in my school but need to have more hands on training to bring others on board. #dtk12chat
Q6: If empathy and the human experience are key tenets of design thinking, how can schools ensure equitable opportunities for students to learn about, and advocate for, what they most believe in? #dtk12chat
a5- Agree- document, document- I think an electronic learners journal completed by students to record their mistakes and successes could work- # growthmindset #DTK12CHAT
In the spirit of optimism, I do think it’s possible...through small steps. Ts can harness energy through meaningful connection w/other Ts (whether in the same bldg. or through Twitter chats like these) to keep creating! #dtk12chat
Don't really know, but if it were me, I'd start by having staff brainstorm what's working/not working right now and have staff use DT to improve culture/system/resource. While not all DT proejcts are 'project-based' it's process not product #dtk12chat
Those teachers exist in your building. Find them, get in their classrooms, get them into yours and start having positive conversations about meaningful change! #dtk12chat
What does teaching design thinking even mean? I believe that's where some educators get disillusioned by what DT can offer - it shouldn't be a thing, that's packaged to be delivered- how do we help its most powerful elements permeate a culture? #dtk12chat
The framework is essential for establishing an organizational process that enables the inclusive deliniation of purpose and beliefs. Having a commonly held framework gives meaning to the work of an organization and supports the development of culture. #dtk12chat
Meaningful change can't exist without a partnership between administrators and teachers. We are all in it together. It shouldn't be an us vs them mentality. #dtk12chat
We must honor the cultures all children bring to the classroom with them. We don’t need to be color blind. We need more than positive intent. We need to know our beliefs poke holes in our beliefs and be vulnerable to admit we don’t know everything. #dtk12chat
A6 Ask students to hack standards with issues they care about; apply lessons of history to solving problems they experience; independently read... plan with students, not for them #dtk12chat
A6 #dtk12chat RELATIONSHIPS!!! the 1st R. It's all about relationships. If we create strong communities in our schools and our classrooms, we create the space where the human experience can flourish.
I think collaboration itself offers much opportunity for empathy, also bringing in people from the communty to share their experiences and bringing students out into the commnty to new experiences is key for equity to occur #DTK12CHAT
One idea: have teachers and students conscious look to bring empathy to situations outside the classroom--and then maybe set aside some time each class for an "Empathy in the Halls," or whatever, convo. #dtk12chat
So beliefs before framework can be used effectively? Or the use of the framework leads to development of shared beliefs? THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG #dtk12chat I imagine it depends on the system.
A6: KNOW your students. Like, really KNOW them. And then help them know themselves w/strengths-based work. Best part of DT is there’s no one right way to do it so all types of students can find success #dtk12chat
Q6: If empathy and the human experience are key tenets of design thinking, how can schools ensure equitable opportunities for students to learn about, and advocate for, what they most believe in? #dtk12chat
A5: How can we create buy-in ? We can utilize design thinking through our own professional work but doing it all of the time doesn’t work either, right? #dtk12chat
I think the "there's no one right way" and living in that ambiguity is scary and confusing for a lot of educators who are used to be explicitly told what to do. How can we help them gain comfort in the unknowing? #dtk12chat
"Redesigning Life at Home" could be an ongoing project. #dtk12chat Catalogue the pain points of life at home and devise and prototype ways of improving it.
#DTK12Chat Our government definitely needs a huge dose of design thinking. Republicans and democrats could use an empathy map or two...or three....or 500.😳
A6: At K-5 I think it starts with providing opportunities for students to uncover/realize... be able to name and describe what they believe in #dtk12chat
Model it. Our leaders need to admit they don’t have all the answers. Show Brene Brown vulnerability vid to staff and discuss its inplications #dtk12chat
A5: this is what @TeachersGuild is all about! School-wide change starts with Teacher-led innovation...practicing DT methods and mindsets in their classrooms, then scaling it up! #dtk12chat
Yes...but often frameworks are introduced before anyone knows or understands the purpose of the framework or what work it supports. So then we “train on frameworks”. Capacity has to be built for the framework to enhance the work. Some frameworks are super complicated. #dtk12chat
Having a process that honors all voices, listens with an empathetic ear, and is inclusive, means that all have the opportunity to contribute to establishing to the shared beliefs that form the basis of culture. #dtk12chat#imo :)
Q7: How can design thinking best support the professional learning needs of teachers and school leaders in ways that honor each professional? #dtk12chat
Some teachers thrive on ambiguity and students can go with that flow; other teachers need assurance of a year planned from the get go and students go with that flow... so students are also learning to follow rather than lead their learning #dtk12chat
I've been to so many trainings on "frameworks". Often with reps from varying districts, all of which had different students and communities and vastly different Whys. Ineffective trainings to say the least. #dtk12chat
In the work that I do, I encounter very different school cultures and communities all the time. It's the job. The design process is the equalizer, and gives me a framework for interaction regardless of the conditions I encounter. #dtk12chat
#dtk12chat A7) Design Thinking provides the mindset and strategy to identify and solve issues for educators and their learners, as well as 'with' the learners, colleagues, parents, community.
Comes back to having a clear purpose and knowing your why. If that is clear and shared, the time will be used and resources will be cultivated to allow for growth. #dtk12chat
A7: To support professional learning needs of teachers/leaders, design thinking should be used to discover how the brain works and how students learn. Teachers/leaders can then discover instead of being told to believe in design thinking. #dtk12chat
A7 #dtk12chat by treating them with empathy, as human beings first. DT offers us a heuristic for autodidacticism but also recognizes the need for Prof. Dev. to be a "team" effort. And how much better would that PD be with a peppering of DT's "Radical Collaboration?
Exactly! And if the why is shared people will work toward that common goal with fidelity, trust is inherent in relationships, students and teachers fail forward together #dtk12chat
And hopefully, once you leave, they embrace that the design process as equalizer will serve them moving forward as they approach complex problems in their schools! #dtk12chat
