Empathy is the ability to compassionately understand what someone else is going through and be able to recognize how we would feel under those same circumstances. Ken Robinson, in his book Creative Schools (which I recommend if you havn't read) points out that many of the problems that young people face are rooted in lack of compassion. Bullying, violence, emotional abuse, social exclusion and prejudices based on ethnicity, culture, or sexuality are all fueled by failure of empathy. As the world becomes progressively more connected, having empathy is more important than ever and is a quality that we try to not only instill in our students, but practice ourselves as human beings. So how does empathy play such an important role in design thinking?

Empathy is ingrained in the design thinking process. Its core purpose stems from students having an awareness of the world around them and the people in it. Design thinking is more than just problem solving, it starts with seeking out problems that exist and then working towards creatively designing solutions to fix them. True design thinking is not just designing for the sake of making something, it is designing with a purpose and with an audience in mind. 

In the book LAUNCH (one of my favorite books), A.J. Juliani and John Spencer's first stage of the design thinking process is Look, Listen, and Learn. In this stage, they really aim to raise student awareness by having them look closely at the world, and in this case the people around them. One of their methods for brainstorming, is to have students 'Start with Empathy Towards a Specific Group'. Students are relating to a group of people on a personal level and making connections that evoke empathy. However, as A.J. Juliani & John Spencer point out, it does not have to be focused on an ethnic group or social issue, it can also be empathy for a specific consumer market (For example: athletes, students, artists, etc.). 

By coming from that foundation of empathy, products become more authentic because they were created to solve problems that real people are facing. Students are learning to be purposeful in their designing and are being mindful of the people and problems that are found in their communities and in the world. Empathy has proven to be one the strongest drivers in the design thinking process, and in being a compassionate human being, and a well-rounded global citizen.

I have been doing Genius Hour for about 3 years or so now and truly believe in the power of giving students complete control in what and how they learn. Genius Hour is all about students developing a driving question based on their passions and interests and then designing a project around it, self-directing their own learning to meet their goals.

While this has been amazing for my students for the past couple of years, I noticed that the driving questions and projects that my elementary students were coming up with didn't quite have enough depth to them. Yes they were coming up with driving questions based on their passions, but it just seemed to lack that purposeful connection.

So long story short, this past summer I did a lot of research on design thinking. I read a couple of books, tons of articles, and became filled with excitement and ideas of how I can incorporate it into my elementary classroom. One of the books that I read was The Launch Book by John Spencer and AJ Juliani (which was phenomenal and I highly recommend it). The LAUNCH cycle that they have created is perfect for younger students being immersed into design thinking and the authors did an amazing job of breaking each step down into tangible ways to teach it to your students. I have taken many things from this book and brought it into my instruction in many ways. However, as I was reading the book, the one phase of the LAUNCH cycle, 'Ask Tons of Questions' seemed to be the missing link in my Genius Hour instruction.

I decided that one of the reasons why my students driving questions were just skimming the surface level is because I wasn't giving them enough time to actually think or the opportunity to ask lots and lots of questions. So this year, with my third graders, I decided to do things a little bit differently. Everyday, for at least a month or so before the official launch of Genius Hour in my classroom, I decided to do what I called "Wonder Time". This time was 10 minutes everyday to do just that.... to wonder.

I started off by explaining to them the importance of always asking questions and we signed a promise as learners to never stop wondering. From there, each student created a 'Wonder Journal', which was essentially a running Google Doc of questions.

The other day I came across this quote by basketball player Steph Curry, “You can expect me to keep getting better.” I was drawn to it immediately and began to think of the drive and mindset that he has that continues to push and motivate him to do better. After all, isn’t that what we want for all of our students; to cultivate this type of self-agency?

Student agency is the inner capacity a student has to never stop learning and growing. This is something that comes from within an individual, and is not something that can be given or forced. However, it is something that can developed. How do we do this exactly? I am still learning but I do know that we must allow students to take the control. Through our instructional design, we want our students feel that sense of empowerment that will develop this type of agency.

Give Students The Freedom to Think

Students are hesitant to truly think for themselves because traditionally in school they have been told exactly what to do. The work that they have done was often not to please themselves, but rather to meet the needs of what the teacher wanted from them. If we want learners who are self-motivated to think, question, design, and create, then we need to give them the control to do so.

Urge your students to discover what motivates them; what they are passionate about. We know that students are more likely to learn if it is something they are motivated by or emotionally connected to. Have students engage in learning that they are passionate about. Genius Hour is one way to give your students the opportunity to explore their passions and motivate them to take control. You can also boost passion in your classroom by giving students the opportunity to CREATE; in any way that ignites their spark and drive to learn. Some examples can be through design challenges, Makerspaces, or technology. Don’t be afraid to share your own passion! Passions and excitement for learning are contagious and can be inspiring for your students.

Developing a culture that values and thrives on collaboration is one where each individual learner feels important. When a student feels like they are a part of something; whether it be a physical group of people, or a community of global learners, they feel a sense of worth, that their contributions matter. It is important to not only nourish face-to-face collaboration but teach students to also be a connected learner that leverages technology to eliminate physical boundaries in order to engage in global collaborations.

Feedback is an essential part of supporting students in their learning. Feedback on the end product is valuable. However, providing feedback on the HOW (as well as the WHAT) is what will support the learner, and not just the end result. Meaningful feedback on essential components of self-directed learning like the students’ work habits, thinking, structure and time management skills will help improve agency in their learning process.

The only way you get better is through reflection. Reflecting on where you came from, where you want to be, and all of the steps along the way. We want to be encouraging students to be transparent and to constantly be reflecting on themselves as learners. This will allow them to be metacognitive in the actions that they are taking to accomplish their goals. Blogging is a great way for students to document and reflect on their learning that can be shared with the world. Secondly, (and this is crucial), LET THEM FAIL! This is what real learners do! We fail! Learning is messy. We try things; things that sometimes don’t work! Students need to fall down in order to find a way to get themselves back up. We want our students to be resilient and to embrace those failures and refine their actions to try something else. Failure is a part of learning.

I am excited to see what comes out of their Passion Projects!

Each and every one of them is a #FirstieGenius!