Design thinking is a framework for creating things. And creating things, as Semour Papert argued in his theory of constructionism, is the kind of "hard fun" that engages people in meaningful work that helps them stretch themselves (Resnick). As his colleague at the MIT media lab, Mitchell Resnick, put it: "they're going to learn fast when they work on things they really care about. Seymour once said that education has very little to do with explanation, it has to do with engagement, falling in love with ideas." Design thinking is one of the many options in your teacher toolbox, but it's a good one, so let's dive into what it is and what it means.

Sources:

"Design Thinking Bootleg." Stanford d. School: https://dschool.stanford.edu/tools/design-thinking-bootleg. Accessed April 2026.

"Mitchell Resnick on Seymour Papert." Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoczAscGYeQ. Accessed March 13, 2026.

Potash, Betsy. "Empower your Students, with John Spencer." The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, Episode 28.

"The Launch Cycle: A K-12 Design Thinking Framework." Spencer Education: https://spencereducation.com/the-launch-cycle/ Accessed Apr. 13, 2026.

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