Why Study Design?
The study of design has been proven to foster a range of fundamental skills, including creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. These innate skills can be further enhanced through design-based learning activities, which provide students with unique opportunities to think in innovative ways. These activities encourage students to discover and evaluate new possibilities, work collaboratively to generate and refine their design ideas, and become more articulate, creative, imaginative, reflective, and decisive thinkers. Having these skills equips students with the tools they need across all school subjects, particularly in Mathematics, Science, and English, where critical, analytical, and creative thinking is essential for problem-solving.
As Albert Einstein famously said, "Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think." With more and more jobs being replaced by automation, it is becoming increasingly clear that future jobs will demand the uniquely human ability of problem-solving and analytical thinking.
However, as humans, our roles go beyond being a student or employee. We are also spouses, parents, children, and siblings. Design-based learning also nurtures the values of repetition and learning through mistakes, which are vital to developing self-reflective skills. Through this human-centered approach, students develop and practice empathy skills, which are essential for their social and emotional development.
In summary, studying design provides students with a range of essential skills that are vital not only for their academic success but also for their personal and professional development. Design-based learning is an investment in our students' future, equipping them with the tools they need to thrive in an ever-changing world.
