Design Thinking for Education
PROBLEM
In February 2015 I began working with a new school in post-earthquake Christchurch, NZ using Design Thinking techniques to help students, teachers and community engage with the environmental design process and ultimately promote ownership & agency of their new school. This region of Christchurch was particularly badly damaged by the quakes and many people fled the area. Repairs have been slow and those who stayed still suffer the effects of broken infrastructure today.
The Ministry of Education took the decision to close four schools in this area and rebuild one large, Y1--13 state-of-the-art school. Community consultation had taken place however stakeholders wanted to strengthen student voice in the process. This effort was primarily commissioned to address this gap and ensure students were adequately represented and engaged in the new school design process. The new school has to address some unique requirements due to the cultural, social and economic makeup of residents.
The project was sponsored by Jade Software, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility work and the Chair of the Establishment Board of Trustees (EBOT).
PROCESS
Followed typical process of research and familiarisation looking online into Design Thinking and examples of student engagement - of which there are exemplary examples in curricula development & classroom design, but not so much in facility design. At the same time working closely with the Chair of the EBOT in clarifying objectives, visiting the closing schools, talking to effected teachers, students and whanau and observing classes and drawing on my own teacher training experience with a focus on active, student-centred and humanistic approaches. Also visited a top decile rebuild school to observe open learning environments in action and view their approach community/school/ performance space use and reuse systems. Designed persona format for elaboration by Jade inhouse design team.
Together with stakeholders we established a program of workshops, led by me which:
- Taught teachers Design Thinking skills which they in turn used with their students
- Broadened reach of consultation to ensure student voice is heard and their particular needs are addressed as much as possible through the build process
- Uncovered unexpected concerns, similarities and recommendations for establishment of the school both in physical spatial and social design.
- Bought together children from different schools to work together in co-creating the new school environment and laid the groundwork for new friendships
OUTCOME
There were several outcomes from this work for the different stakeholder groups:
- For EBOT: Enriched consultation with teachers, students and their communities. Genuine engagement and pathway to co-creation of new school. Report on process for Ministry of Education containing recommendations for school design driven by students and community. A valuable set of verified student personas to inform the school design and build process.
- For Jade Software Corporation: Development of transferrable model for using Design Thinking in Education and mentoring of staff in Design Thinking techniques. Relationship development with new school and eBOT and Ministry
- For Teachers: Acquired new skills and engagement in transition process. Gained insight in ways to support their students during the transition.
- For Students: Involvement, engagement, ownership and making friends from other schools.
- For Parents: Reassurance that their concerns are recognised and being addressed. The process also initiated a shared sense of community and helped build optimism for new school.
Outputs: personas, workshops, presentations, detailed report. Teachers also generated significant outputs including video diaries, questionnaire responses, student illustrations which were also included in the Report.
Persona template (3 of 6, based on Y13 prefect group)
Student Ambassador workshop and presentation to Teachers. Photography
Michael Busby
Report to Establishment Board of Trustees and Ministry of Education
Digital Interactive Video Online - Ghana / UK
Dialogue for Development!
PROBLEM
The British High Commission had an established Islamic Girls Rights and Leadership programme which they wanted to provide an international link dimension to. The British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities were keen to establish links between Ghana and the UK. Along with The Guardian Newspaper who worked locally with Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School for Girls in central London, I proposed a digital video story-telling exchange programme. DIVO (Digital Interactive Video Online) uses participant centred, creative digital video dialogue(s) to promote inter-cultural understanding and peer-led learning between groups who might not otherwise be able to meet. The project was funded by the British Council, the British High Commission and the Guardian Newspaper.
PROCESS
I proposed, designed and implemented the project, initially over 6 months based in Ghana & the UK. Created evaluation framework and wrote report. Ran project and workshops in Ghana. Built hosting website, including video hosting and bulletin discussion boards. Ran outreach workshops where Ghanian participants taught storytelling and filmmaking skills to their communities.
OUTCOME
Many unexpected points of similarity and difference emerged for the participants over the course of the project. They reported feelings of friendship empathy and understanding for their virtual high-tech penpals. Along with valuable IT skills acquisition and gender related empowerment they also reflected on concepts of citizenship, cultural identity and nationhood. A full detailed report is available.
Following on from the project, acted as technical adviser to British Council and helped them plan subsequent phases of the project.
See
10min DIVO Documentary on YouTube, an excerpt of the 30min evaluation documentary which was shown on TeachersTV, Ghana TV, OneWorld TV and PBS Filmfestivals.
Read more about the project on
Guardian Website.
DFID (archive) or
wikipediaContact me for more details or access to the extensive report on this groundbreaking project.
