When I was consulting for NoTosh, I noticed that many early years teachers found it challenging to envisage how Design Thinking might look for their age group. I often had questions such as, ‘But, how do we know it works?’
It does work.
And, although I would model various strategies for the Early Years, I thought that it might be helpful to show how the whole process might look.
I team-teach Year 1 with the fabulous Kathryn O’Connell at the Australian International School Phnom Penh. We are an Australian Curriculum and IB school and we teach PYP with our students.
We follow the NoTosh Design Thinking model and match it with Kath Murdoch’s Integrated Inquiry steps as follows:
- Immersion (including Provocation) / Tuning In & Finding Out
- Synthesis / Sorting Out & Making Conclusions
- Ideation / Going Further
- Prototyping / Taking Action
In this example, our Transdisciplinary unit was How we express ourselves and the central idea was Our environment inspires creativity.
Immersion (Tuning In and Finding Out)
We launched our unit of inquiry with a provocation: Anyone and everyone is creative by nature. So we asked ordinary people to share how they were creative. We asked our school Principal to visit the group and share how she is inspired by flowers and is creative through her photography of these flowers. Each day, she shares a message of wellbeing by disseminating these photographs to her friends and family.
We also interviewed an everyday poet and a Foundation teacher who is also a quilter. To integrate with English, we used famous visual artworks such as Starry, Starry Night by Van Gogh to inspire narrative writing.
We also immersed in the ideas of Nellie Gibson who provoked her students about ‘What is beauty?’. Our Year 1 version of this was, “What is creativity?’ and so we asked each student to draw what they thought might be creative. We collected data using Google Classroom to use for our Mathematics Inquiry into Statistics and Probability.
Synthesis (Sorting Out and Making conclusions)
Rather than a project nest, this time, we used several forms of data to synthesise our central idea.
- We used a deconstruction template to determine the meaning behind each part of the central idea (we used this as a pre and post-check-in).
2. We created data displays based on the questions we asked in Google Classroom about creativity and inspiration.
3. We used then synthesised this data to create a working definition of ‘creativity’.
Finding a “problem” to solve was, seemingly difficult. But then we began to notice that there were some spaces in our school that could be better developed to inspire creativity.
Our PYP Coordinator reminded us that the Makerspace needed development and so, she presented this problem to our Year 1 students.
*Back to Immersion
We all realised that, in order to design something for others, we needed to talk to them about it. We were already well-practiced in interviewing from our ‘expert interviews’ and we had investigated collecting data in Mathematics. This time, our students were agents of the data collection and synthesis. They determined the questions, gathered data in person from other students, and created their own data display.
We recruited another expert to share with us how learning spaces can inspire creativity. We also visited the Design Lab in the Secondary building and interviewed Mr. Brian who has previously designed Makerspaces. Naturally, we watched some clips about Makerspaces.
Armed with an understanding of creativity, the impact of spaces upon creativity AND the data they collected from students, each student drew ideas of what might be included in the Maker Space.
NB. Each student doing this first ensures everyone has a voice and a contribution.
To share ideas, students voted on the best options via a gallery walk.
In teams, students placed the best options on a floor plan template (in negotiation with each other).
Students justified their choices verbally with the Year 1 teachers and were given feedback before they attempted their final prototype.
NB. We had planned to share these prototypes with our experts and other students before making a third prototype but alas, time slipped us by.
Students then presented their final prototypes back to our PYP Coordinator along with their data displays as justification of their choices.
Check-in in a year’s time to see how the Makerspace has developed!
Nilipokuwa nikisoma kwa NoTouch, niliona kuwa walimu wengi wa miaka ya mapema walipata changamoto ya kufikiria jinsi Design Thinking inaweza kuonekana kwa kikundi cha umri wao. Mara nyingi nilikuwa na maswali kama vile, ‘Lakini, tunajuaje kwamba inafanya kazi? Inafanya kazi. Na, ingawa ningeiga mikakati mbalimbali kwa miaka ya mapema, nilifikiri kwamba inaweza kuwa na manufaa kuonyesha jinsi mchakato mzima unaweza kuonekana. Mimi timu-kufundisha Mwaka 1 na fabulous Kathryn O'Connell katika Australia International School Phnom Penh. Sisi ni shule ya Australia ya Curriculum na IB na tunafundisha PYP na wanafunzi wetu. "Kama mfano, ""Notification Design Thinking"" ni mfano wa utafiti wa kina wa Kath Murdoch, ambao unajumuisha ""Tuning In & Finding Out, Synthesis Sorting Out & Making Conclusions, Ideation Going Further, Prototyping, Taking Action"" na ""How We Express Ourselves.""" Immersion (Tuning In na Finding Out) Tulianzisha kitengo chetu cha uchunguzi na uchambuzi: Mtu yeyote na kila mtu ni ubunifu kwa asili. Kwa hiyo tukawauliza watu wa kawaida kushiriki jinsi walivyo wabunifu. """Tumemwomba Mkurugenzi wa shule yetu kutembelea kikundi na kushiriki jinsi anavyoongozwa na maua na ni ubunifu kupitia upigaji picha wake wa maua haya." Kila siku, yeye anashiriki ujumbe wa ustawi kwa kueneza picha hizi kwa marafiki zake na familia. Pia tulimuhoji mshairi wa kila siku na mwalimu wa Foundation ambaye pia ni mchoraji. "Kwa mfano, katika kitabu cha ""Starry Night"" cha Van Gogh, kuna picha za watu wanaopenda kuandika." Pia tulizama katika mawazo ya Nellie Gibson ambaye aliwashawishi wanafunzi wake kuhusu ‘Uzuri ni nini?. "Mfano wa kwanza wa ""Uumbaji"" ni ""Uumbaji wa Uumbaji"" na unaonyesha jinsi mwanafunzi anaweza kuunda picha ya ubunifu." Tulikusanya data kwa kutumia Google Classroom kutumia kwa ajili ya uchunguzi wetu wa hisabati katika Takwimu na Uwezekano. Synthesis (Sorting Out and Making conclusions) Badala ya kiota cha mradi, wakati huu, tulitumia aina kadhaa za data kuunganisha wazo letu kuu. - Tulitumia template deconstruction kuamua maana nyuma ya kila sehemu ya wazo kuu (sisi kutumika hii kama kabla na baada ya kuangalia-katika). 2. Uwezekano wa kupata "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Mafunzo ya Google"" ni orodha ya maswali yaliyoulizwa katika Google Classroom kuhusu ubunifu na msukumo." 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Kisha tulitumia data hii kuunganisha ili kuunda ufafanuzi wa kazi ya "ubunifu". Kupata "tatizo" la kutatua lilikuwa, inaonekana, gumu. Lakini baadaye tuliona kwamba kulikuwa na sehemu fulani katika shule yetu ambazo zingeweza kutumiwa vizuri zaidi ili kuchochea ubunifu. P.S. Mkurugenzi wetu wa PYP alituwakumbusha kuwa Makerspace inahitaji maendeleo na hivyo, aliwasilisha tatizo hili kwa wanafunzi wetu wa Mwaka wa 1. """Tunapokuja kwa Immersion, sote tuligundua kwamba ili kubuni kitu kwa ajili ya wengine, tunahitaji kuzungumza nao juu ya hilo." Tulikuwa tayari na mazoezi mazuri katika mahojiano kutoka kwa "mahojiano yetu ya wataalamu" na tulikuwa tumechunguza kukusanya data katika Hisabati. Wakati huu, wanafunzi wetu walikuwa mawakala wa ukusanyaji wa data na synthesis. Waliamua maswali, wakakusanya data moja kwa moja kutoka kwa wanafunzi wengine, na kuunda maonyesho yao wenyewe ya data. Tuliajiri mtaalam mwingine kushiriki nasi jinsi nafasi za kujifunza zinaweza kuhamasisha ubunifu. Pia tulitembelea Maabara ya Ubunifu katika jengo la Sekondari na kumhoji Mheshimiwa Brian ambaye hapo awali amebuni Makerspaces. Kwa kawaida, tulitazama baadhi ya vipindi kuhusu Makerspaces. Kwa kuwa wanafahamu uumbaji, athari za nafasi kwenye uumbaji na data waliokusanya kutoka kwa wanafunzi, kila mwanafunzi alichora mawazo ya kile kinachoweza kujumuishwa katika nafasi ya mtengenezaji. NB. Kila mwanafunzi kufanya hivyo kwanza inahakikisha kila mtu ana sauti na mchango. Ili kushiriki mawazo, wanafunzi walipiga kura juu ya chaguzi bora kupitia kutembea kwa nyumba ya sanaa. Katika timu, wanafunzi waliweka chaguzi bora kwenye template ya mpango wa sakafu (katika mazungumzo na kila mmoja). Wanafunzi walieleza kwa maneno chaguo lao kwa walimu wa mwaka wa kwanza na walipewa maoni kabla ya kujaribu mfano wao wa mwisho. NB. Tulikuwa tumepanga kushiriki prototypes hizi na wataalamu wetu na wanafunzi wengine kabla ya kufanya prototype ya tatu lakini alas, wakati slipped sisi kwa. Wanafunzi kisha waliwasilisha prototypes zao za mwisho nyuma kwa PYP Mratibu wetu pamoja na maonyesho yao ya data kama uthibitisho wa uchaguzi wao. Check-katika mwaka wakati wa kuona jinsi Makerspace imekuwa maendeleo!