Designerly Thinking

Designerly Thinking

I decided to write my articulation about designerly thinking – we’ve had some hard communication problems so I am choosing to write about this rather than a theorist or their theories.

I really like the thought that we are manipulating the environment to create an experience. As we design (manipulate the environment) we are taking whatever it is that we have to work with and we try to put it in the right way so that we can create that learning experience for the student. I like this because it makes sense to me – it sits well, it seems to ring true because as a teacher of many years I can think of countless experiences where I have done this without thinking. I walk into a classroom and immediately I start assessing the situation – what are the missionaries doing? Are they tried? What is on the board (they learned it previously)? What are they talking about? What clues do I have as to what they are interested in (ties, letters near the desk, pictures on their journals)? What experience do I need to facilitate so they can learn whatever the objective is for the day? How will I do it? What is the weather like outside? Do I have markers, crayons, paper, etc.? How big is the room? How many missionaries are there? Are there any sisters? The list goes on and on – what I realized is that I do this all the time without ever even realizing it. It is a skill that I think everyone has – the more you do it the better you become.

Thinking about the concept of an operational principle was very interesting for me as well. I have been pondering this and don’t feel that I fully grasp it yet – but it’s something I want to be better at. For example, what natural operational principles are there that I could harness (I like the word harness for this concept) and put to work so I can create the right environment?

I like the thought that great designers have a greater understanding (and therefore a greater command and ability to use) of operational principles. The more we can see the operational principles around us the more effective I think we will become at designing things.

I think one example of an operational principle that I use at the MTC is culture. I know if I can tie Filipino culture into whatever we are doing there will be an inevitable increase of attention and excitement. It’s almost like a law of physics (what goes up comes down and when you talk about culture missionaries get excited) that I can use to enhance and change the learning experience.