7 Reasons Why Design Education is Important

or How to Make Your Own Army of Young Designers

Out of 64 countries, America’s education system has earned a solid 35th place in the world in math and 27th in science (pewresearch.org). Given that we’re an international hegemon, this is nothing to brag about. But what’s going wrong? And more importantly, how can we fix it?

Consider: what’s the point of education in the first place? Personal edification? A good way to spend time 8-3 on weekdays? More likely, its goal is to set up future generations for prosperous futures and happy lives.

One big part of that is finding a job that pays the bills. However, the education system is still stuck preparing students for Industrial Age factory jobs. Schools still maintain the same models of the mid-1800s, designed to prepare students to be compliant assembly line workers, when today, the demand is for creative thinkers who can solve the problems of the future. While the world has changed, schools have remained stagnant. The demand no longer matches the supply.

Forbes recently interviewed hundreds of companies to find the top qualities that companies are looking for in future hires. What they found was not the ability to do quick mental math or impressive rote memorization, but creativity. Among the other high-ranking skills were adaptability, ability to work on a team, social intelligence, and good communication. So what do all of these traits have in common? They can be learned through design education.

Design Education: Design can be a vague term. Is it art? Fashion? Product? As framed by IDEO and d.school founder, David Kelley (check out Creative Confidence!), design thinking is about solving problems. Design education then involves teaching students the skills of design thinking and preparing them to become great problem solvers. Students start by taking a problem and understanding the nuances of it, brainstorming possible solutions, and prototyping new products and experiences. With this approach, students are able to make something novel that has the potential to change the world. And it’s already being done: check out this watery-ketchup-eliminator that these high school students made, or these innovative projects from the students at Nuvu in Cambridge, MA.

Design thinking teaches the modern age skills that students need to succeed. Success today relies on a new way of thinking, and that’s exactly what design thinking can teach:

1. Design teaches empathy. Design is all about solving problems, and those aren’t necessarily going to be your own. Instead, design forces students to adopt the mindset of their end user. From interviewing people to walking through the lives of someone new, students get the chance to see the world from a new perspective and consider the challenges that other people face. The sort of empathy this teaches is important in both life and work. It helps students adopt a better understanding of the people around them and learn to build stronger relationships.
2. Design fosters creativity. Design is inherently creative. By tackling old problems in new ways, students get the chance to do a double take on their own preconceptions. By thinking deeply about a single problem, students are forced to think from more perspectives than would be encouraged in the regular classroom setting when there’s usually one right answer. Students are taught to be confident in their own answers, but also see the merit of every approach.
3. Teamwork is crucial. Students need to learn early on that the stereotypes of the stand alone hero or the isolated genius are not true. When students start working together from a young age, teamwork becomes second nature. They learn to trust others and work together effectively to make a better product. A team is more than the sum of its parts, and that’s a concept only learned from being thrown into situations that require trusting others and empowering each others’ strengths.
4. Students build confidence. There’s lots of pride in creating something novel with your own hands. When we start introducing design thinking into the classroom, we give students the experience of making something they didn’t think they were capable of before. It could be a bed that flips you out of it in the morning or a smart cane for the blind; the challenge doesn’t matter, it’s the resulting empowerment that does.
5. Students learn how to solve problems. Design is all about creating a solution to a problem, and often it is to one that they wouldn’t notice otherwise. Students are introduced to the diversity of improvements that can be made in the world, but more importantly, they realize they have the ability to create these improvements. This fosters a mindset of proactive problem solving in every aspect of their lives.
6. Design teaches you how to see. And I’m not talking about being able to read the letters on the eye chart. I’m talking about seeing the world around you. Seeing it like a curious toddler who asks “Why’s that?” to every other thing he passes by. It introduces the magic of the unknown back into the world and encourages students to always be seeking new understandings.
7. Design helps you change the world. It’s only when you choose to believe in yourself that you can have an impact. When people actively see that they have the abilities to make a difference, they’re that much more likely to do exactly that.

Design education empowers students to reach their full potential in creativity, self-efficacy, and collaboration. Schools should be there to prepare students for the outside world, but currently, they’re just limiting the scope of learning to rote memorization. No wonder students are getting lost in the cracks of boredom and unapplicable facts. Our students need to be trained to succeed in the future, and currently, schools are doing a paltry job at that. Perhaps design education is the answer.

Check out my other pieces about education @ckliu95 and click that recommend button below if you liked what you read!