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Collaborations
See our past online challenges and  best-in-class solutions.
Chapters
See districts and regions where we have activated and sustained a culture of creative leadership.
Cicely Day is a creative catalyst designing solutions for students and communities in Oakland.

Learn Our Approach to Design Thinking

To catalyze creative leadership, The Teachers Guild builds off the methods and mindsets from the Design Thinking for Educators Toolkit. It’s a learner-centered approach to problem-solving that builds teachers' skills and confidence to design for the evolving needs of their students and schools.

Our approach is based on Design Thinking methods and mindsets.

METHODS

The methods help to activate your expertise in pedagogy and content by generating new ideas. It starts with defining a challenge you want to solve for and with your students.

Empathize

Discover student needs and reflect on evidence

Ideate

Generate new ideas

Build

Make ideas tangible

Test

Try ideas to gather feedback from students

Share

Inspire others to try your ideas

Iterate

Refine ideas based on feedback

Mindsets

The mindsets help you develop your belief and confidence in tackling challenges and knowing what works for students and why.

Courageous

Taking risks and living with ambiguity can inspire us toward new futures

Equitable

Reaching all students means confronting biases and prioritizing inclusion

Experimental

Making ideas tangible tests assumptions and accelerates learning

Collaborative

Diverse perspectives lead to new insights and more possibilities

Optimistic

Obstacles and failures are opportunities for creativity and growth

Empathetic

Meeting student needs starts from deep understanding

Resources

Check out these resources to support you through each method.
IDEO WISE Report
Learn how Design Thinking is transforming classrooms and schools, reimagining learning beyond existing models.
DOWNLOAD resource
Empathize
Discover student need and reflect on evidence. These tools will help you dig deep, draw inspiration from your surroundings, and surface insights to guide you on your design journey.
DOWNLOAD resource
Ideate
Generate and refine ideas. These tools will help you run brainstorms to get wild ideas and share the ideas you love most.
DOWNLOAD resource
Build
Refine ideas with student and peer feedback. These tools will help you make ideas tangible and build to learn.
DOWNLOAD resource