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GEER Design Thinking for Teachers

Design Thinking Classes for Teachers

Design Thinking Classes for Teachers
 
Offer two virtual free college-level classes opportunities to any teacher/staff member at the 25 schools. Priority of selection of courses:  1) classes that support the development of school–community relationships relevant to the GEER project; 2) classes requested by teachers/staff; and 3) course availability.
 
GEER Design Thinking Teacher Training
Design Thinking Classes for Teachers Results
 
Results:
This deliverable had mixed success. Only one course was successfully offered. However, other efforts were implemented that allowed for professional development activities for school teachers. Unfortunately, teachers did not receive credits that they could use for salary advancement for these additional opportunities. Still, in some situations, they received stipends for participating in special training outside school hours.
 
Successes:  
  • One in-person Design Thinking course was offered in July for teachers at the Kaimuki High School library. Teachers completing the course could earn three (3) PDE3 credits that they could use for salary advancement. Seventeen (17) teachers are working on completing the course by October 31, 2022.
  • The Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) cooperated with their advice on offering PDE3 classes and using their communication system to advertise the course for teachers.
  • The willingness of instructor Keith Matsumoto to work through the approval process so that teachers could receive PDE3 credits. He is one of the top instructors in this field and has taught this course to many schools, businesses, non-profits, and community groups. 
  • Although we were not able to offer a second course because of the lack of an instructor, schools were able to use the funds to support teacher professional development by using funds to hire substitutes when teachers did training during the school day, offering stipends for training outside of the school day, and offering travel opportunities for neighbor island schools to attend meetings and training on Oahu, especially at an in-person Hawai’i Academies meeting on August 29 on Oahu. This was an opportunity for many of our neighbor island principals and coordinators to meet their colleagues from Oahu schools.

Challenges:
  • Our initial plan to offer two college-level classes for teachers to earn credits to use for salary advancement while learning about community engagement, project-based learning, and design thinking was stopped. While we were planning to offer the courses based on the $6000 per course that the Early College rate for students, we were informed that we needed to pay the regular tuition for each teacher enrolled in a class. We did not have enough funds to support that plan.
  • It took a while to find a qualified instructor. At one point, it appeared that we could need to abandon this effort.
  • We eventually found an instructor for the Design Thinking PDE3 course. PDE3 classes are professional development classes that teachers can take for credits. The DOE recognizes the credits and can be applied toward salary advancement.
  • It was time-consuming to go through the DOE process to get approval to offer this class for credits. (Part of the delay was errors we were responsible for that slowed the process.)
  • We did not receive approval until the last day of school for teachers, and by then, teachers had signed out and left for the school year.
  • Our target group was our high school teachers from our 25 high schools, but when the class was advertised through the HSTA, we received applications from a few of our high school teachers (Campbell, Farrington, Kaimuki, and Waipahu High Schools). In addition, teachers from elementary schools and middle schools applied. Many were from the same complex areas as our high schools.
  • Our neighbor island schools were disadvantaged because our instructor insisted on a hybrid 3-day in-person class with virtual follow-up lessons.
  • Initial registration was very encouraging (27), but some dropped out before the class began and along the way. The course was intense because the instructor said it needed to be that way to understand and apply the principles in the classroom. Teachers were informed of these expectations at the beginning of the course. 

 

Evidence:  See Supporting Documents – GEER Sponsored PDE3 Design Thinking Classes for Teachers.