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Exercising young minds with Design Thinking
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ONCE in a while, something new arrives on the educational scene that is “hot,” and in recent times this has rather fittingly been STEAM education. Science, technology, engineering, art and maths education gathers its potency from the combination of the different disciplines in the students’ efforts to solve a given problem.
At the British International School Shanghai, we follow a very particular pedagogy, or way of teaching and learning, to support our students’ learning in STEAM, which is known as Design Thinking.
The Design Thinking model we use exercises students’ minds by giving them real word problems to solve, rather than esoteric, abstract problems. So from the get-go, students are aware that their job is to use their subject specific skill set in a combined way to have a real impact on a real world problem. This imperative to use academic skills to have an impact on a real problem that someone is facing is a fantastic benefit of the Design Thinking approach to STEAM all on its own. However, when the process itself adds so much value to the students’ learning and skill acquisition it can be life-changing for everyone.
At the heart of the process is the idea that students keep working reiteratively on their project. This is a crucial point in the students’ mature understanding of how designs make the transition from drawing board to reality. Historically, students may have been more used to thinking of completing their tasks as something of a sprint: getting to the “finish line” as quickly as possible. However, as we mature we come to realize that producing a high quality output is much more cyclical, with many initial drafts or prototypes preceding the final finished product. Of course each prototype is carefully evaluated and examined to see what can be learnt from its weaknesses to make an improved new version. It is this very process of prototyping, evaluating and revising that forms the central philosophy of Design Thinking and which is the backbone of STEAM education.
So, here at the British International School Shanghai, students get to experience exactly this sort of deep learning, in two state of the art, world class STEAM facilities, and as a result we are able to nurture their analytical and problem solving minds in a way that will equip them to meet any challenge they are likely to face in their 21st century future.
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