Design Thinking – transforming the classroom, the school yard, the world!

Ewan McIntosh and Design Thinking
How can educators talk the talk and walk the walk towards the development of engaging, exciting and dynamic learning environments for our school communities? According to Ewan McIntosh, educators can strive towards this by incorporating Design Thinking into the practice of education. Originally a French and German teacher, McIntosh now works with schools, businesses and governments worldwide, implementing design thinking to transform practice and produce results.

But what is design thinking? And how can this approach transform our practice as educators? Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO speaks about the power of Design Thinking as a renewed approach.

Design Thinking and the National Curriculum

Increasingly, in a world where knowledge itself is constantly growing and evolving, students need to develop a set of skills, behaviours and dispositions, or general capabilities that apply across discipline content and equip them to be lifelong learners able to operate with confidence in a complex, information-rich, globalised world.

The goals of the Melbourne Declaration and the above statement found within the Australian Curriculum, provide a call to action and the path through which change might be achieved. For many educators, reflective and transformative practice is not a new thing; they strive daily to engage and support student learning. What educators need in the face of the national curriculum is not rhetoric or what McIntosh calls ‘d’oh’ statements – rather, tangible and sustainable ideas and approaches.

This is possibly why so many educators and business alike are turning to McIntosh as a guiding light to bring a fresh new approach, one built not on rhetoric but on tangible outcomes and powerful results. McIntosh is a man who likes to share his success with the world. Educators can turn both to his blog or his delicious page for ideas and inspiration which are more than ‘d’oh’ statements.

Resourcing – Design Thinking
Design Thinking has the potential to transform every educator’s practice, every school environment and every school community. In an educational context, resourcing Design Thinking requires educators to reframe understandings, to leap boldly into a new mode of practice. Educators will need to let go of the reins and invite students, parents and people from the wider community to engage in a dialogue about what learning and teaching might look like in the 21st Century.

But as with all new ways of working it comes down to one question, ‘how do I start?’ The Design Thinking for Educators Tool Kit is one place to start, as is the text Change by Design by Tim Brown which can be purchased from amazon.com.

What educators can take for McIntosh’s approach is the call to action, to facilitate a creative and dynamic revolution in their educational practice, to look beyond traditional models, drawing from completely opposite sectors and views to discover new ways of working within education. Read more about Design Thinking from Ewan McIntosh.