Crafting Empathy through Design Thinking
Mandi Dimitriadis
The ethos of LEANLAB is centered around three core values: boldness, equity, and human-centered design. These are the values that guide our work and the values we prize when we seek education entrepreneurs for our K12 Fellowship. We asked the fellows from our fifth cohort to write about the core value that resonates most deeply with them.
At Makers Empire we believe that every child can make their world better.
The values that underpin our work at Makers Empire are ‘empathize, learn, inspire, make a difference and stay relentless’.
These values drive our mission to give every child access to 3D technology and help them use it as a tool to develop Design Thinking skills.
We believe that Design Thinking skills empower young people to identify and solve real-world problems that they care about. We want young people to have creative confidence in their abilities to meet challenges and to know that they have what it takes to make changes and improve situations for themselves and others. Design Thinking gives students a set of tools and processes they can use to turn problems and challenges into opportunities to develop innovative solutions. Design Thinking works best when it is approached as a collaborative endeavour and the communication and teamwork skills young people develop through Design Thinking help them become collaborative, caring problem solvers.
A key concept driving Design Thinking is empathy. We are asked to consider a situation through the eyes of another person or group and develop deep insights into the experiences of others. We see this as a human-centred process where humans are using their skills and time to help other humans.
At Makers Empire we see wonderful examples of empathy in action when students use our 3D learning program to identify and solve problems within their communities. We have seen 3rd graders design a 3D printed scale model of a new school playground that is more accessible for their friends with disabilities and 7th grade students working with aged care residents to find ways to make their daily lives a little easier. We’ve also seen elementary students working with farmers in drought-stricken areas to address the issue of wind-blown dirt filling sheep watering troughs and 4th grade students developing inventions to help keep equipment dry for a younger student living with Cystic Fibrosis.
Young people who have empathy towards others can truly change the world!
The value of empathy not only defines what Makers Empire hopes to bring to the children of the world, it also shapes the way we operate as a business. We seek to understand the needs of teachers and students and build our products and services to make their lives easier and solve genuine problems in their work and learning. We work closely with our customers and users and listen to their feedback, concerns and stories. We test our products in classrooms and walk in our users’ shoes to try and understand what we need to do to make the best possible product to meet their needs.
Empathy not only builds kind, decent human beings; it is key to developing creative and innovative problem solvers. Empathy empowers our young people and ourselves to make a better world.
Makers Empire helps K-8 educators teach design thinking, STEM and 21st-century learning skills with 3D printing and 3D design so they develop the critical thinking, design thinking, creative, collaborative and problem-solving skills and growth mindset they’ll need to thrive in the future.
Mandi Dimitriadis
Mandi is an experienced and qualified classroom teacher who recognises the power of technology to enhance teaching and improve educational outcomes. She have extensive experience with curriculum development and learning, having previously developed programs for the Australian Government’s Department of Education. She is passionate about Design Thinking and how best to prepare today’s students for the future.
