Week 2 Research: Curriculum Design + Precedents

"Our world is changing so fast, we all feel it. To prepare today’s learners for tomorrow’s world, our systems need to evolve. Innovation in education requires the courage and creativity to take leaps at some of the most entrenched 'truths' we hold — the very premise of how our institutions are designed. The curriculum, spaces, tools, roles, infrastructure all offer an immense opportunity for design to make a difference."
-SANDY SPEICHER

PARTNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, IDEO SAN FRANCISCO

Learning Design Principles:

What principles guide the design of learning?

1. Learning should be personalised.
2. Learning should be authentic.
3. Learning should be connected.
4. Learning and design of learning should involve collaboration (between teachers and with students).
5. Learning should address dispositional development.

http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/NZC-Online-blog/Learning-design-principles

Universal Design for Learning (NZ Guide)

Introduction Video
7 key strategies to support learning with UDL:

• Find out about UDL: Learn about the key concepts, origins and science behind UDL.Shared understandings will help you share and reflect on practice with colleagues.
• How to plan using UDL: Use this human-centred approach to planning. Apply in any context to guide the inclusive design of an activity, lesson, event, hui or process.
• Support engagement in learning: The engagement principle is concerned with how we make decisions based on emotion and motivation. It guides the design of learning environments that are safe, relevant, and support students’ motivation and resilience.
• Provide access to information, support understanding: The representation principle is concerned with how we recognise and make sense of information. As learners perceive and understand information differently, it is essential information is presented in multiple ways.
• Enable action and expression: We all differ in our abilities to organise ourselves and our thinking and express what we know. The Action and Expression principle helps us provide options and supports so everyone can learn, create and share in ways that work for them. 
• Design considerations in primary settings: As you begin to explore UDL, reflect on these five areas of curriculum design. To support your thinking, each area has been illustrated with provocations and questions.
• Design considerations in secondary settings: As you begin to explore UDL, reflect on these five areas of curriculum design.To support your thinking, each area has been illustrated with provocations and questions

Design Precedents in this field:

Sam Seidel: Stanford D.School

Excerpt from interview article by Michael Schien; The Next Revolution in Education: Design Thinking. Jan 8 2019. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelschein/2019/01/08/the-next-revolution-in-education-design-thinking/#9814e5f61c65

'Michael Schein: The Stanford D.School is not the first place that comes to mind when I think about education. What made you join them?'

'Sam Seidel: The D.School is best known for teaching design thinking and helping build creative confidence in all kinds of different fields. While design thinking has been applied to products including everything from the Apple mouse to better toothbrushes, it can also be used to rethink schools and social systems. There are some serious structural problems with education and so the D.School seemed like the right place to tackle these problems creatively. My colleagues and I believe that applying the design thinking approach can be used to make real progress in improving education in quite a few different ways.'

'Schein: Can you give me an example?'

'Seidel: Sure. This past year we were working on reimagining educational assessments. There are a couple of huge problems with school assessments. One is that they take far too much time away from meaningful education. On average, a quarter of school days are spent on either test prep or actual tests each year. I’m not saying that assessments can’t be meaningful and valuable when done well, but… well, that brings us to the second big problem. These test don't measure what most everyone agrees matters. It’s become a given that success in life requires being able to collaboratively solve problems. To think critically and creatively. To communicate effectively. That's not what these assessments are testing. They’re testing stuff you can find on Google. We were lucky enough to partner on this with the Hewlett Foundation who said, “Can you help us think through deeper learning (which is made up of all the all the things I just listed)?” So these are the kinds of tough and interesting problems I get to work on—figuring out what it looks like to test those skills that will actually help students be successful in the 21st century.'

Craig Brown: Putting Art at the Heart of Education Design.

Using architecture design in schools to create spaces that encourage and inspire creativity. (Auckland’s Diocesan School for Girls.) -Education Central.co.nz

"It’s less about vocational training and more about developing the soul. Many schools offer the core curriculum as prescribed by the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), while also delivering elective subjects through senior years for students who excel at music, drama or dance."

However, it’s important to embed the arts at the centre of a school’s culture so every student can engage, regardless of artistic ability. Engagement can come in many forms, from managing a production to making costumes or selling tickets. This provides a rich and inclusive learning environment for all. It is often said that the school musical is the most far reaching and largest event in the school calendar… and long may it be so!"

Education Design Lab:

Ideo: Designing a School System from the Ground Up

Case Study: Innova Schools