Gosh It's Been A While

Hi Everyone

Sheesh - how has it managed to be TWO months since I last posted!

We have had the final of our Design Thinking Challenge at BACA and I have to say, I was blown away! Not just by the quality of the ideas that the Year 7 finalists presented, but also with the way in which their behaviour and engagement changed, even to the point of them being entirely self managed.

As a group, when I did the first training for all 100 of them, I was not too sure that they were really taking much in. The teachers were also unsure about the format of the workshop and the lesson plans. Yet, as the weeks went on and my relationship with the students continued to build, it became evident that:

1. They had total recall and understanding of the design process ( at one point, a group of them reeled off the whole methodology, including prototyping and market research, to an astonished visiting consultant);
2. Behaviour and participation improved a lot more as the groups got used to working together and became invested in their teams ideas and their success;
3. That the combination of active reflection at the end of a class, the documentation of the process itself and interactive learning meant that the students were much more empowered to come up with their own solutions and celebrate their own successes, making the teacher's lives easier.

The classes then voted on the best idea to take forward, reducing the groups from 25 to just 5. I worked with these 5 groups on their final ideas ( changes to the uniform, how to improve school food, two anti bullying campaigns and how to improve behaviour in the classroom). By the time we did the presentations the students were managing their own time and preparations - making films, powerpoints, handouts, writing budgets, I was astonished! And on the day of the presentations, with an outside panel of visitors as judges, you could literally hear a pin drop so high was the quality of focussed attention.

The winning idea was an inhouse social club, run by Year 8 for Year 7, that provides a safe space for the frightened, lost or vulnerable new Year 7's called Help You When You Need It. The students will start running the club in the Autumn term of 2011.

Chief learnings for me:
Visual prompts are really important for focus
The better the students know you the easier they are to manage and
Never underestimate the value of affirmation and encouragement - I expect them to be excellent and so they are!

If you would like a design thinking curriculum piloted in your school please do get in touch.