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Case Study
Moi Litchfield's Year 5 (Grade 4) class
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During the 2016-2017 academic year, we explored how design thinking, service learning and social entrepreneurship could be combined into a powerful learning experience for students. This initiative was offered as a year long inquiry into How We Organize Ourselves under the central idea: People create systems to address issues and support needs.
Early in the pedagogical design process, teachers sought to align the learning experience in the school’s core values: integrity, caring, community and growth. We wanted students to have the opportunity to embody a spirit of compassion, creatively make with needs in mind, collaboratively enrich the lives of others and effect positive change in the world. The goal was to empower students to become more socially active, environmentally responsible, empathetically innovative and solution-oriented visionaries. At the end the year we hosted a Y5 Maker Faire. This was a time when student social enterprises sold their products to members of the school community. |
It should be noted that this initiative was something a small group, including Mr Reid, Ms Tosca and myself (along with a few other people) had discussed and planned at the beginning of the academic year. While not all students were successful in setting up their enterprises, or in having enough products ready for sale, it has been a valuable learning experience and good preparation for the Y6 exhibition.
Each student gained something different, whether it was the opportunity to learn and apply new academic knowledge and skills, developing 21st Century skills as predicted by the World Economic Forum such as collaboration, creativity and problem solving abilities, a sense of agency and the understanding they are capable of learning knowledge and skills beyond what they had thought possible (helping to develop a growth mindset - the belief that they can improve) and feeling proud of what they have been able to achieve. Perhaps the greatest benefit of all was the opportunity to learn in a fun and motivating way.
What follows is a photo story unpacking of the experience to help readers understand the journey we embarked on for this learning experience.
Each student gained something different, whether it was the opportunity to learn and apply new academic knowledge and skills, developing 21st Century skills as predicted by the World Economic Forum such as collaboration, creativity and problem solving abilities, a sense of agency and the understanding they are capable of learning knowledge and skills beyond what they had thought possible (helping to develop a growth mindset - the belief that they can improve) and feeling proud of what they have been able to achieve. Perhaps the greatest benefit of all was the opportunity to learn in a fun and motivating way.
What follows is a photo story unpacking of the experience to help readers understand the journey we embarked on for this learning experience.
THE HOOK
To help the students activate their action and changemaker thinking we first needed to understand service learning in both purpose and scope.
We invited the secondary students to talk about their service learning group, Ocean Marine Guardians (OMG). |
The students were inspired to help create blocks for the artificial reef. Skills developed measurement, capacity, volume, collaboration. |
The blocks were created in the Makerspace and cured over time in the classroom. |
THE PROCESS
We then developed our aim: Use the design process to create a social enterprise.
View videos to underpin discussions that build understanding of social enterprize.
What knowledge and skills might we need to develop to be successful?
Gain empathy by asking what might our consumers want, need and like?
Interview - interview our potential customers to learn as much as we can about them and what they want and need. What problems might we help solve?
Dig Deeper - use insights from our interviews with our potential consumers to learn even more about them such as design features they like
Share what we have learned about our consumers; their needs, wants and likes. Look for market opportunities. Access the makerspace in order to tinker and plan.
Research further to learn about social enterprise. Access primary sources.
Research business proposals, business models, and entrepreneurs.
Accessing experts through books sourced, and introduced, by students. Viewing videos about young social entrepreneurs.
Participate in a mini-Dragon’s Den in order to gain insight into how to pitch our ideas for our social enterprise.
Ideate and play with possibilities through making in the makerspace.
Playing with different materials, strategies, and techniques to generate ideas.
Create a social enterprise based on passions and interests.
Identifying knowledge, skills and interests we want to explore and develop.
Become skilled craftspeople.
Developing knowledge, skills and interests that can help us succeed.
Prototype initial ideas.
First attempts at gathering resources and creating a rough product.
Modify designs and test materials.
Using the NUF test (new, usable, feasible) to determine if the product should be produced.
Underpin learning with Maths and Language.
Measurement, graphs, scaled drawings, pricing, economics, all are the maths of business. Writing formal letters, business plans, marketing, website design, logo development are all the language skills needed for business.
Design marketing strategies
Prep the market space. Make sales!
Ensuring quality product, fair pricing and transparent sales is part of the socent process.
The planning pathway |