The Artfulness of Design Thinking in Addressing Interdisciplinarity in Curriculum Making: An Eisnerian Analysis

• In Event: Eisner and the Arts in Education

Abstract

This paper examines the artfulness of design thinking in the process of curriculum making and professional development. The authors have a 5-year-long school-university partnership where an interdisciplinary team of university faculty engaged with a middle school teaching staff in the process of curriculum making. We explore the process of co-constructing a novel STEM middle school interdisciplinary curriculum. A challenge we faced was developing a culture of interdisciplinarity among teachers. Design thinking was instrumental in helping teachers to shift their thinking to a more interdisciplinary perspective. This paper explores our professional development sessions with teachers using design thinking and explicating the artfulness of design thinking in the sessions. This paper has implications for utilizing design thinking in curriculum development.

Authors

• Amy Masko, Grand Valley State University

• Kristofer Pachla, Grand Valley State University

• David Coffey, Grand Valley State University

• Kathryn Christopher, Grand Valley State University

• Lisa Anne Kasmer, Grand Valley State University

• Jamesia Nordman, Grand Valley State University

• Keith Oliver, Grand Valley State University

• Janet Vigna, Grand Valley State University

• Paul Woo Dong Yu, Grand Valley State University