Confessions of a PYP Teacher

C77: The Design Thinking Process

Lu Gerlach Season 2 Episode 77

Send us a text

As I think of the power of the conceptual lesson cycle, I naturally connect to the Design Thinking Process, which looks at conceptual ideas from the big picture.  If you haven’t heard about it, no worries, I didn’t until a year ago.  For those who have been engaging with design thinking for some time, we are going to explore some possibilities that will strengthen your usage of it.  I’m as giddy as an early years child on their first time bringing in a show and tell artifact. 

For those rubbing their hands together thinking this series is about design, I’m sad to tell you it's not the case.  We will not be going through the process to create prototypes in the traditional sense.  For those ideas, consider listening to Design Cast: A Podcast about Design and Steam Education by Jason Reagin.  He’s super talented and passionate about all things Design and STEAM.  He has a lot of guests that are just as nerdy as he is about design and I always walk about with new perspectives.

We are taking a journey on the Design Thinking Process.  It’s the same process of design, but applying it towards organizational structures.  What does that mean?  Well, it means we are going to look at Design Thinking from the lens of education and how it impacts lasting change within our school system.  I know it’s quite deep, but we need this type of thinking as we emerge into a new educational landscape post pandemic.  Now is the time to make lasting changes, rather than sliding back into how it’s always been.  We are not the same educators that we were two years ago, so why should we teach the same way? Why should our learners be forced to learn in the old model?

Tim Brown Ted Talk:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAinLaT42xY

For a written blog post and other resources, visit:   https://thinkchat2020.weebly.com

Thanks for listening! Please find us on LinkedIn @lugerlach, Instagram @thinkchat2020, Threads @thinkchat2020, and Bluesky @thinkchat2020.bsky.social.

Join our Confessions of a PYP Teacher Facebook Group! Let's have some fun!