Design Thinking as a Catalyst for Pedagogical Creativity in an Emergent Community of Practice

• In Event: The Power and Possibilities for Design-Based Learning and Collaborative Creativity in Education

Abstract

Purpose:
As in AI research, where software is being developed to help amplify human creativity so that increasingly more and more people can identify with “being creators” (Hollister interview at McGill, viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgW4e_ZY26s&feature=youtu.be), creativity in students is being prioritized in Quebec, Canada in elementary, secondary and tertiary education (Ministère de l'Éducation du Loisir et du Sport, 2001, 2013; Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, 2013). Given this priority to foster creativity in teachers, the purpose of this study explores if and how design thinking can help to foster teacher innovation and creativity. The research question guiding this work is: What are the experiences of non-arts teachers’ engagements with design thinking and art-making?

Theoretical Framework:
In order to consider this question, this a/r/tographic (Irwin & de Cosson, 2004; Carter, 2015; Carter & Irwin, 2014; Carter, Beare, Belliveau & Irwin, 2011; Springgay, Irwin, Leggo & Gouzouasis, 2008) research considers the experiences of four teachers at a high school in Montreal, QC, who have been working with researchers on a Pan-Canadian project on Reconceptualizing Teachers’ Roles for Canada’s Creative Economy. Participation in the research project at the Montreal site has included taking part in workshops on photography, design thinking and creativity over a two-and-a-half-year period. A/r/tography has been selected as both a methodology and theory because of its focus on using creative means to consider the multiple identifications of artist, researcher and teacher that overlap within the liminal space(s).

Methods and Data:
Using interviews, focus groups and journal writing as the main sources of data collection, researchers in this study explored how design thinking impacted the in-service teachers experiences in their classrooms and school communities. Findings from this study suggest that the community of practice that developed as a result of this research and the growth mindset(s) of the participants, to continually evolve as teachers, were the driving factors for the teachers to apply the principles of design thinking into key projects within their classrooms.

Results and Significance:
The related understandings that emerge from the research question and data/themes outlined above include: 1-The importance of communities of practice(s); and 2- The significance of pedagogical improvement as the pivot for reconceptualizing teacher identity. 1- Resoundingly, the participants in this project discussed how the group that they were a part of, due to this research project, had the most profound effect on their experiences. The literature on communities of practice (CoP) helps to further underline the significance of communities within teacher experiences. 2- Again and again throughout the interviews, the participants all spoke about how their identities as teachers were extremely important to them. The participants in this study, time and time again, resisted the notion of re-framing their identity as “teacher” to “artist”, “creator” or “a/r/tographer”. However, they embraced design thinking as a way to help them to understand how to better help their students take educational risks, which affected their own pedagogical creativity.

Author

• Mindy Roberta Carter, McGill University