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Design Thinking Goes to School at the CSR Education Summit
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Imagine a room. This room is a place where people gather to learn and explore. The space is filled with pens, brightly colored markers and notepads. There are assigned seats, scheduled lunch breaks and lots of writing on whiteboards. At least one teacher is present.
What is this room?
At the 2017 CSR Education Summit yesterday, it was home to a Design Thinking workshop.
SAP uses Design Thinking to help its customers identify challenges and discover innovative solutions. Proving the method’s broad applicability, SAP’s CSR and design teams introduced the process to its partners in STEM education.
SAP North America partners with four high school STEM programs as part of its Early College High School Initiative: BTECH in New York, C-Town Tech in Boston, Templeton Secondary in Vancouver and Skyline High School in Oakland. For the first time since the initiative’s inception in 2014, representatives from all four schools, along with college and non-profit partners, came together for a three-day education summit at an SAP office.
Two dozen professionals convened in Silicon Valley to share successes, discuss challenges and look toward the future of STEM education programs. They heard from Manette Chadwick, SAP VP and COO of Global Learning, about adapting learning cultures to prepare students for the future of work. They shared ideas about SAP’s employee mentoring program in their schools. They took a field trip to see the Golden Gate Bridge. On Day 3, they participated in a full-day Design Thinking experience workshop led by David Ramsay and Esther Wolff of SAP’s Design Group.
At the outset, the educators became the students. Entering the room to find desks marked with their names and colorful supplies scattered about, participants worked in three small teams for an illuminating day of brainstorming, discussion and innovative thinking.
The teams began by mapping their current realities and identifying trends they see in education, technology and student makeup. They candidly shared challenges they face daily, including sustainable funding and consistency in staffing, and each group chose one challenge to focus on. Everyone imagined their dream visions for the future of education, and facilitators shared tools to think about getting there. Everything went up on the wall as a rainbow of Post-It notes took shape.
At the end of the session, participants talked about the value of working with their peers and approaching challenges from different angles. Indeed, as educators continue to navigate the evolving digital landscape, approaches will also evolve. In this way, Design Thinking can be a useful tool for educators who want to change the experience for their students.
In fact, within SAP, there is already a dedicated design group working specifically with and for educators. This team teaches educators how to integrate what they call Design-Doing right into their courses using a unique course design process. For example, the group helped re-design a course at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco and supports several professors at San Francisco State University.
What can you do? At SAP, you can get involved directly with our various high school partners and other non-profits supporting work building the workforce of the future, mentor, host students, create your own project! Contact CSR.NA@sap.com for more information on how to support SAP’s initiatives in STEM education.