Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1081161
" In design thinking, there is a strong focus on empathy in the work we do. We create opportunities to understand yourself and others. Equity and innovation go side by side." —Teachers Guild director Molly McMahon Oakland to support their creativity in reaching students using design thinking. e 25-year educator says the empathy step of the design thinking process forces educators to take stock of students' diverse needs and create lessons that are relevant to their experiences. "Even though we talk about students being the center, with all the mandates and obligations, we often forget about our learners," says Mitchell, an Oakland Education Association member. "Cre- ating more empathy for our learners and their needs has been really useful. It's getting to know our students in a different way. at's been some of the most valuable work we've done so far." Mitchell says this empathy led to ideas like providing therapy ani- mals for stressed students and a "shadow project" where students take photographs of their days to provide visual representations of their daily experiences. Educator Cicely Day was involved in the Oakland Teachers Guild chapter in 2017 before moving to West Contra Costa Unified School District last year to run a high-tech "Fab Lab," where students use com- puters, 3-D printers and other professional machines to bring their ideas to life. She says that design thinking gives students and teachers alike the tools and courage to find new ways to solve problems. "I really like the process because it frees you up from the constraints of the system to try new ideas," says Day, now a member of United Teachers of Richmond. "For my students, mostly girls, giving them per- mission to fail and think outside the box is refreshing." Being all right with mistakes and even embracing minor failure as a precursor to a major learning moment is a key piece to design thinking, says Dickerson, who notes that adults could glean a lot from her kinder- gartners, their sense of wonder and lack of self-imposed limitations. " Younger kids are willing to do almost anything," she says, explaining that the fearlessness of her kindergartners is what finally convinced her to join e Teachers Guild. "I tell the kids every day that mis- takes are great because that 's w hen we learn, and I realized I wasn't living up to that. Letting go of control helps educators grow, just like we ask stu- dents every day." Design lessons that speak to students An approach that makes learning relevant to students and empowers them to take control of the process hit home for Emilie Barnes, 14, a ninth-grade student who learned design thinking in middle school with Curtis. "It made us slow down and think about what we're doing, what's the problem, how can we solve it, and made us think," Barnes says. "It's a good skill for us to have in real life, so when a difficult situation or problem occurs, we can stop and think about it logically." T h i s e m p o w e r m e n t c o m e s w i t h re s p o n si b i l i ty too, Curtis says, as students learn to get rid of their preconceptions and empathize with others to find innovative solutions that consider their needs. This East Bay educator Cicely Day, below, participates in an Oakland Teachers Guild workshop. 28 cta.org feature Each designer mindset comes with its own set of motivations. Paula Mitchell