Committee on Architecture for Education

Hello fellow CAE colleagues!

   At the CAE conference in Berlin today, we heard a panel discussion regarding participatory design for school facilities. One insight I gained was from Rosie Parnell, who highlighted the difference between "designing WITH children" compared with children who participate in design. That is, designing with children is more collaborative than when they are mere participants in a structured process constrained by adults.

   I thought it would be nice for those of you who are interested to comment on the following discussion question, so we can all learn from one another!

  What strategies have YOU found to be successful in your attempts to include children and teachers in the design process as collaborators, as opposed to mere participants?

Thanks! And for ideas and resources, see Rosie Parnell's website Designing with Children

Designingwithchildren		remove preview
Designing with Children Database View this on Designingwithchildren >

------------------------------
Danny Lamoreaux
PhD Student, School Psychology
The University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
------------------------------

Daniel,

Thanks for sharing this information and website, great topic and insights!  One of our sales teams on the east coast has been working through Design Thinking sessions with a group of 4^th graders in Denver [via video chat].  Wow, what an eye opener.  Working with unfiltered minds that don’t hold back was exhilarating.  The pure honesty and candor was a real “kick-in-the-pants” for some folks.

As these children examine content through a different lens than adults, clarity is often revealed.  Long story short, if you cannot not explain your goals and objectives to a fourth grader, it may be time to revisit your central question.

------------------------------
[Steve] [Slifka]
[Leader: A+D Steelcase Education]
[Steelcase Education]
[Murrells Inlet] [SC]