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00:01:15.686Welcome to another episode of K-12 Education Untangled.
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00:01:25.219My name is Dr Kim J Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast.
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00:01:41.939I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids, who were in the public school system.
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00:01:51.121I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system.
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00:02:01.776Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress.
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00:02:08.472This battle-tested experience is what I provide as action steps for you to take.
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00:02:15.896It's like enjoying a bowl of educational research with a sprinkling of mother wisdom on top.
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00:02:32.756If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in public education that could affect you and your children, and the action steps that you can take to give your children the advantages they need, then you're in the right place.
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00:02:35.277Thanks for tuning in today.
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00:02:48.591I know that staying informed about K-12 public education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening.
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00:02:59.394Give me 30 minutes and I'll untangle the latest trends, issues and topics pertaining to this constantly evolving K-12 public education environment.
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00:03:08.526In this episode, I'll be discussing how design thinking impacts learning in K-12 classrooms.
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00:03:19.365We're living in an ever-changing world and sometimes it's difficult for young people to find their place in this world and to make sense of it all.
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00:03:27.564While they may want to do good or hope to do good, it's hard for them to know where to begin.
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00:03:37.405How can students be equipped with the skills to interpret, problem solve and think critically about the information they encounter?
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00:03:43.362This is where design thinking is one way to address these concerns.
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00:03:48.592Thinking is one way to address these concerns.
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00:03:58.755It's important that educators and parents create space for your children to think deeply about what they care about, encourage them to ask tough questions and to take action in a meaningful way.
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00:04:10.247I discuss what design thinking entails and why it's relevant in today's K-12 public education classrooms in this episode.
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00:04:12.796Let's untangle this.
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00:04:19.742Design thinking is essentially creative problem solving.
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00:04:22.170Design thinking isn't new, however.
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00:04:23.271Design thinking isn't new, however.
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00:04:31.937It's been around since the 1960s, although it's changed in both name and shape over the last 60 years.
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00:04:47.007Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem solving that encourages empathy, innovation and creativity within students, with the purpose of helping them solve real-world problems.
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00:04:59.295It is a necessary function of how to prepare students for the complexity of the 21st century.
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00:05:05.144The basic steps of design thinking are empathize, define, ida, prototype and test.
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00:05:19.012The goal is for students to lead with empathy, to identify and define the problem and then develop a realistic solution to that problem that can be tested and refined with feedback.
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00:05:41.609The process basically pushes students to engage with skills like critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, education, empathy and problem solving Skills that have been identified as extremely important for successful functioning in the workplace and daily life in the 21st century.
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00:05:48.331The use of design thinking can foster a healthy relationship with failure for students.
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00:05:57.354It frames failure in a positive way by encouraging students to look for ways to enhance their work through feedback.
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00:06:04.778Design thinking also has a positive impact on the overall motivation and engagement of students.
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00:06:13.877It supports overall academic performance by developing critical thinking, teamwork skills and social awareness.
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00:06:38.781Design thinking is a type of thinking that's used by students when engaging in design-based tasks, like cognitive activities such as analyzing the situation, defining the problem, modeling ideas, designing solutions, predicting results, questioning unexpected outcomes and managing the design process.
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00:06:48.789These are the types of activities that are typically involved in STEM classes, all the types of activities that are typically involved in STEM classes.
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00:07:01.064Design thinking can entail several different mindsets, such as human-centeredness, bias toward action, collaboration, experimentation, optimism and mindfulness of process.
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00:07:08.803Design thinkers are typically one empathetic toward people's needs and context.
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00:07:14.399Two collaboratively geared toward embracing diversity.
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00:07:19.692Three inquisitive and open to new perspectives and learning.
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00:07:24.019Four mindful of the process and thinking modes.
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00:07:25.0605.
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00:07:27.724Experientially intelligent.
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00:07:29.0506.
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00:07:33.101Take action deliberately and overtly.
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00:07:36.459Consciously creative.
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00:07:37.8708.
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00:07:42.401Accepting of uncertainty and open to risk.
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00:07:43.9519.
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00:07:47.461Have the desire and determination to make a difference.
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00:07:48.189And.
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00:07:50.855Ten critically questioning.
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00:08:00.437Design thinking has proven to be useful in tackling complex problems that are ill-defined or unknown.
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00:08:05.370Design thinking is a cyclical process.
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00:08:15.895There are more than 12 design thinking models utilized by educators to facilitate students' engagement with the design thinking process.
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00:08:35.330These models include IDEO Discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation and evolution, and the double diamond model, which consists of discover, define, develop and deliver.
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00:08:46.221Design thinking employs a form of reasoning known as abductive reasoning, which is distinct from traditional deductive and inductive logic.
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00:08:47.644Which is distinct from traditional deductive and inductive logic.
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00:09:07.625Deductive reasoning operates from a general to specific framework, determining what necessarily must be true, while inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to broader generalizations, focusing on what actually is.
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00:09:14.767Abductive reasoning is concerned with exploring possibilities as opposed to asserting truth.
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00:09:27.195This type of reasoning doesn't aim to declare that a solution is definitely true or false, but instead seeks to uncover a range of potential outcomes or scenarios.
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00:09:35.333This allows for various possibilities and innovative solutions that may not be immediately apparent.
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00:09:48.432The multidisciplinary, collaborative approach utilized in design thinking lends itself to diverse perspectives, leading to multiple creative solutions and innovations.
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00:09:55.173The essence of design thinking is a human-centeredness through intrinsic motivation.
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00:09:59.331Another key attribute of design thinking is reiteration.
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00:10:09.019Reiterated learning is necessary to build efficacy and mastery, as well as creative confidence and perseverance.
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00:10:23.355Reiteration enhances the ability to think about the student's own thought processes, as well as to adapt, strategize, monitor and reflect on his or her learning.
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00:10:30.242Design thinking has the potential to build lifelong learning characteristics in students.
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00:10:46.605The design thinking approach has the potential to elicit curiosity in students so that they develop creative solutions that can be applied in the workplace, for example, for companies to maintain their competitive edge.
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00:10:51.333This requires a competitive and creative approach.
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00:11:12.403Design thinking can help students build the skill of asking strong and relevant questions instead of how does it work or asking what would happen if, instead of what I have seen happened before.
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00:11:19.880Specifically, questions should encourage serious thought about the user experience.
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00:11:26.731This entails understanding the people who use products, who they are and what motivates them.
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00:11:38.735The challenge for middle school and high school teachers is to find a way of developing a robust question-asking culture in the classroom.
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00:11:58.394Learning to ask the right question is so critical for student learning that it's been listed as the foundation for six of the 10 quote-unquote future skills in the 2018 World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report.
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00:12:07.053Developing strong and divergent questions remains an area of weakness for many middle school and high school students.
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00:12:16.914Their focus currently tends to be on solution-finding activities rather than on question-asking activities.
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00:12:31.606Giving young people the space to think deeply about what they care about and encourage them to ask tough questions as well as put their ideas into action in a meaningful way, takes a new approach.
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00:12:42.712How do you go from theory to the actions taken by fifth graders in North Carolina when they helped refugees settle into their new homes and access healthy food?
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00:12:47.288Or when you see third graders shut down drug houses in Texas?
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00:12:58.201Or when you watch high school students combat a 70% high school dropout rate on their Native American reservations in South Dakota?
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00:13:08.735This transition from theory to action requires commitment and passion on the part of both adult supporters and young people.
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00:13:18.754It requires time, tools, trust and the creation of intentionally planned opportunities and experiences.
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00:13:26.193One of the most powerful tools to catalyze young people to do good is design thinking.
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00:13:31.621Young people to do good is design thinking.
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00:13:33.425Design thinking encourages curiosity and engagement with real-world problems.
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00:13:47.956Students can use design thinking to determine the problems they'd like to solve in their community, work in teams, brainstorm solutions, investigate ideas and critically analyze the ones that they'd like to do.
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00:13:56.494This teaches them to incorporate multiple perspectives and effectively communicate their ideas to others.
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00:14:08.115Design thinking embraces failure and encourages the iteration of solutions, while creating opportunities to learn key 21st century skills.
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00:14:25.270One takeaway about design thinking is that those that participate in the process are transitioning from designing for someone to designing with someone, and this is how students can solve problems more effectively.
00:14:25.270 -->
00:14:31.484This shift in thinking can be used in all aspects of their personal lives.
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00:14:42.718One of the positive effects of design thinking is that it shows students the powerful role that design plays in the world around them.
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00:14:44.520Design is everywhere.
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00:14:55.139It's in the chair you're sitting in, the way a cell phone feels in your hand, the arrangement of desks in the classroom, or the curve of a mouse.
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00:14:59.206When you get up in the morning, you're designing what you're going to wear.
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00:15:02.677When you go to work, you're designing your route to work.
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00:15:17.615When you're doing an activity where you create something like a project plan, you're designing that, and if you see it as a design problem and you're aware of it, you think about it a little differently.
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00:15:25.755Students become more successful when they realize everything they do is solving a design problem.
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00:15:37.918The principles that design thinking nurtures include empathy, problem definition, iteration and the tolerance of experimentation.
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00:15:48.199The question becomes how can educators reimagine a culture of school that deeply values the tenets of design thinking?
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00:16:09.651Schools should use design thinking because design thinking is a fun, optimistic and hopeful way for teachers and administrators to work together to make their schools better and students learn more when they work with teachers, administrators and parents to actively and openly solve problems.
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00:16:22.039Teachers use design thinking with students by helping them apply the skills being taught to solve problems or to present information in ways that make sense for the students.
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00:16:27.616Design thinking gives students a deeper experience in their classroom work.
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00:16:45.937Researchers and professional development leaders are looking to push more design principles into K-12 education as a way of engaging students, creating environments that inspire learning, enhancing instruction and bringing relevance to the curriculum.
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00:16:51.590Now let's move from listening to this discussion to applying it.
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00:16:56.355So what can you do about this topic of design thinking?
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00:17:01.040Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic.
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00:17:13.218Design thinking is a great tool for understanding the role of design in our lives, and it's a tool that your children can learn and utilize to solve problems in their communities.
00:17:13.218 -->
00:17:28.261Being aware of this teaching tool can help you ask pertinent questions of your child's teacher or principal as far as how they are going about providing students with skill sets that extend beyond the classroom.
00:17:28.261 -->
00:17:35.379Are they utilizing place-based education, problem-based learning or design thinking?
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00:17:38.614Their answer may be eye-opening for you.
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00:17:47.590I'm a big proponent of reinforcing the concepts that children learn in school with supplemental materials and activities at home.
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00:18:07.741A tool that you can use for activities for your child to develop and jumpstart their design thinking skills is the PBS Kids Design Squad website that walks you through the steps of design thinking and lets you select a design project.
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00:18:13.718Again, that's the PBS Kids Design Squad website.
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00:18:15.185Check it out.
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00:18:25.681Here are this episode's takeaways.
00:18:26.761 -->
00:18:30.888Design thinking is essentially creative problem solving.
00:18:32.070 -->
00:18:41.887The principles that design thinking nurtures include empathy, problem definition, iteration and the tolerance of experimentation.
00:18:43.510 -->
00:18:58.035One key takeaway about design thinking is that those that participate in the process are transitioning from designing for someone to designing with someone, and this is how students can solve problems more effectively.
00:18:58.035 -->
00:19:04.277This shift in thinking can be used in all aspects of their personal lives.
00:19:04.277 -->
00:19:16.548The multidisciplinary, collaborative approach utilized in design thinking lends itself to diverse perspectives, leading to multiple creative solutions and innovations.
00:19:16.548 -->
00:19:23.720The essence of design thinking is a human-centeredness through intrinsic motivation.
00:19:23.720 -->
00:19:39.264The goal of design thinking is for students to lead with empathy, to identify and define a problem, and then develop a realistic solution to that problem that can be tested and refined with feedback.
00:19:39.264 -->
00:20:02.394The process basically pushes students to engage with skills like critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, education, empathy and problem solving, skills that have been identified as extremely important for successful functioning in the workplace and daily life in the 21st century.
00:20:11.026 -->
00:20:22.690If you don't want to miss out on any of the content that I've provided or what I will provide next, then be sure to subscribe to my podcast, on whatever platform you're listening to this.
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00:20:28.769If you enjoyed this episode, why not listen to another episode from my library?
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00:20:36.511It could take as little as 10 minutes of your day, and remember, new episodes come out every Tuesday.
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00:20:39.196Thanks for listening today.
00:20:39.196 -->
00:20:46.911Be sure to come back for more K-12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle.
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00:20:52.470Until next time, aim to learn something new every day.
