Agents of Change: How Learning the Design Thinking Process Created a Character-Building School Program

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Danielle Barron,  Craig Ford  

While undergoing design-based learning, we sought to increase positive social interactions between children and adults. Working in a collaborative environment with guided instruction, we defined our initial problem as “How might we increase positive social interactions in children ages 8- 13?” This topic originated as a way to improve social interactions between children and adults during the child’s use of screen time, to decrease or nullify negative behaviors associated with the child’s attachment to the screen. Through research, ideation, and empathizing with children and adults, a school character education program was determined to be a viable solution. A character framework was used, based on philosophies of Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg, and Edgar Morin (Bialik, et. al., 2015). Cross-age peer teaching/mentoring was incorporated into a secret agent-themed program, Agents of Change (AoC). This program allows the students to feel empowerment due to the undercover nature of AoC. Throughout the prototype and testing of AoC, positive feedback was received by stakeholders. This included those in the age ranges targeted, as well as experts in the school psychology, counseling, and teaching professions. Empathizing with all involved was important throughout the process and assured that AoC was designed to befit the age groups involved. Short-term prototyping produced positive outcomes; long-term implementation into schools is recommended to further validate the AoC program. Reference: Bialik, et al. (2015). Character Building for the 21st Century: What Should Students Learn? Boston, MA: Center for Curriculum Redesign.