Bengaluru: About 40 CBSE school principals turned students in the classrooms of National Institute of Fashion Technology ( NIFT ), Bengaluru, recently. Funded by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the principals were being coached on design thinking and how it could be incorporated into the pedagogy in their schools. “The design process is a step-by-step procedure to identify challenges, generate solutions, refine ideas, test solutions.
Design thinking can be used in school for solving problems using design thinking tools, research and collaboration with stakeholders, with user-centred approach,” said Nilanjana Bairagi, associate professor and campus academic coordinator of NIFT, Bengaluru. “For instance, in a school setting, the disciplining techniques for children can be innovatively thought. Usually, the common step is to get the parents.
But, there could be other ways too. Another problem could be that children are not interested in maths. It makes you think it is about the way it is taught, makes you go to root cause and find creative ways to solve it,” she said.
The workshop touched the many problems, principals face like excessive paperwork, service books, applications for admissions, RTI, lack of sufficient staff, academic performances of students, overcrowded classrooms, communication within and outside school and, maintenance of the school. The two-day workshop saw participation from all type of schools — convent, govt, private and air force, amo.