Deriving From the ‘I Can’ Mindset, Design Thinking Changes Teaching in India for the Better
As technology becomes ever more prevalent in both the working and academic spheres, parents are encouraging their kids to choose more technical subjects such as I.C.T and computer science in school. Children are also being persuaded to involve themselves in creative thinking to resolve solutions which cannot be performed by robots, nor learnt by writing comprehension tests, nor reading about history.
Traditionally, students are encouraged to remain glued to their seats for hours per day, and rather than asserting their own solutions, are persuaded to trust their teachers’ intellect as the absolute answer. But is it right to discourage children from voicing their ideas and creating their own explanations to difficult problems? For designer, teacher and mother, Kiran Bir Sethi, the answer is no. Instead, she believes that children should engage in active learning and creative thinking at schools; a goal which we at Digital Influx advocate for.
How do Schools Initiate Overcoming Such Teaching Hurdles?
It all started with Indian mother Kiran Bir Sethi who disagreed with the teaching methods posed on her child and all children worldwide. In her opposition, she took her son out of school and developed an innovative and creative teaching method known as design thinking which has changed the world.
Initially, Sethi opened the Riverside school in Ahmedabad, India in June 2001, seeking to allow pupils to be the architects of their curriculum. “Every child has the right to an ‘I can’ mindset” Sethi told Edutopia.
To Sethi’s surprise, this originally minimal idea built to help only a small number of children (27 students) in primary education soon became a prominent tool for teaching in 60 countries worldwide and thousands of schools. Digital Influx are behind the promotion of Sethi’s educational construct.
Design thinking is used to solve problems within the working industry too; utilised by leading companies such as Apple, and various scientific developments like the Life Saving Dot which transforms bindis into iodine patches to help prevent breast cancer in Indian women.
While design thinking is developing into a worldwide tool, it is most critical in its home country of India; saving lives and generating the launch of education techniques wherein students thrive significantly.
So, What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking is an innovative, problematising technique initially used in schools wherein their pupils would learn valuable life skills which will help them survive challenging life experiences.
Design thinking encourages individuals to think creatively and ‘outside the box’ when overcoming challenges. The individual must understand the needs of the user and conduct solutions far from the obvious which work best in achieving the ultimate goal. The approach of design thinking in solving problems is solution-based.
When developing a product or service through design thinking, the developer must deeply understand the interests of the target user/s. Such an understanding is created through empathy for the user/s of said product or service. One must be prepared to question every aspect of the situation.
Design thinking is the perfect solution for tackling problems that may be considered impossible, and is utilised through five non-sequential phases:
· Empathy
· Define
· Ideate
· Prototype
· Test
Design thinking seeks to empathise and holistically understand the problems we as humans face. Thus, thinking ‘outside the box’ in nonexplicit ways is necessary.
Our goal at Digital Influx is to teach kids to understand empathy- understanding the needs of others, learn valuable life skills, accustom themselves to problem solving, and better their chances for computer-based careers later in life, all through thechnology and Edtech as is valuable in our computer-obsessed world. By acquiring such skills and knowledge, today’s and the forecasting youth will have the ability to live and work in a world accustomed to technology with the essential skills.
What are the Benefits of Design Thinking?
With Design thinking being utilised in schools, children across the world will be prepared for the challenges of the adult world before entering it. They will be able to come up with innovative and successful solutions to challenging problems and are in charge of their own academic career beyond the traditional learning of Maths, English, sciences, arts, and humanities.
At Digital Influx, children can involve themselves with design thinking through interesting and engaging games, videos, and problem solving activities.
Thus, if you have any questions about design thinking or would like more info, feel free to email us at info@digitalinflux.com.
Author: Tilly O’Brien
