I believe that education is a form of artistry. I employ design thinking in my classroom for all levels of students from the planning stages through all forms of instruction.

Meredith Davis explains,

“Young designers will be responsible for much more than how things look and get reproduced. They will be accountable for the interactions among technological, social, and economic systems, and the everchanging relationships between people & settings.”

My classroom is a welcoming environment where student interest is prioritized and individual choice is key in all work. This is why it is so important for me, as an educator, to build personal relationships with every student. My knowledge of the influences they bring to the classroom lets me tailor lessons and scaffold design thinking from early course work & projects through creative problem-solving deliverables. The art of education is an exercise in challenging perspectives and expanding horizons.

I believe in a project-based curriculum, which allows students to learn through inquiry with a strong support system, requiring them to create personalized design to solve both internal and external problems. Each day, we develop concepts together, utilizing the design tools I have taught them to find creative solutions to problems in many facets of life. I strive to challenge their ideas, notions, and perspectives with a flexible framework. They enter my class as nascent designers and exit with the ability to not only create great work, but to visualize systems, identify those system interactions, choose new perspectives, and integrate new ideas & concepts into their existing schemas.

When a student leaves my classroom for the last time, they don’t only have a toolbox for facilitating great work. They have learned to use design tools to solve problems for the rest of their lives.

The art of education, much like design, begins with a desired product. My job as an educator & artist, is to use curriculum development and interaction with my students to create life-long learners.