Reflection - Future(s) Foundations at Stanford’s d.school
Reflection / June 9th, 2023
My design for the Future(s) Museum at SXSWEDU 2022.
In March 2022, I attended SXSWEDU week. After an amazing session on comics in education, I walked across the hall to the d.school’s Future(s) Museum. I knew the d.school, like many, from exploring design thinking and its applications in education, but I was not prepared for what I was in for at the conference. The d.school had set up an amazing maker space that guided participants through designing for their future descendants. Through the process, I made a background followed by the descendant themselves. As I progressed through the system I was asked to reflect on what their space might look like, how it was connected to their needs, and how that descendant might identify within their environment. At the end of the project, I posted my design in their “Hall of Ancestors,” which later acted as a gallery for all the designs participants made throughout the conference. I immediately loved the blend of designing, futures thinking, and making.
This past week I was lucky enough to join the d.school at their space for Futures Foundations. The program drew in designers, educators, and experts from many fields and asked us to adopt a futures mindset that emphasized thinking about our future descendants and time. The day started with presentations from Luoie Montoya, Ariel Raz, Laura McBain, and Lisa Kay. Solomon emphasized the importance of time in future as well as being a “good Ancestor,” borrowed from The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric (I left the seminar with a long reading list). d.school Creative Director Scott Doorley reminded us that “Design is sacred” and that it has a long history emphasizing time, paraphrasing a main point of his talk that time is the most important delivery system we have for design.
The group was then asked to participate in the Futures Museum project that I had previously done at SXSWEDU. Doing it for a second time, particularly with a small group to talk and build off of, I was able to have a completely different experience and develop our ideas together with more depth and perspectives. For me, it really emphasized the importance of thought partners in the process. Doing this process on my own pushed me to be in my head more than I should have been; I emphasized my thoughts about the future. With a small group, I was able to open my perspective and build a much more interesting version of the project that I was much happier with. The collaborative process was one that was emphasized throughout the entire day and into the next day. At almost every turn I was discussing ideas, developing a deeper understanding of the perspectives in our group, and building a better understanding of how others were thinking about futures.
The d.school has a wealth of resources to start your Futures journey.
In the afternoon there was a panel of designers and educators from around the world. Dr. Tim Foxx, a leader from the University of Pennsylvania, was a standout for me. His discussion about educational leadership, and leadership in general, was a highlight for me. At one point he discussed how the pandemic weaponized education against itself and the ramifications of that going forward, particularly finding ways to emphasize futures in our planning and leadership. Throughout the rest of the day, we had a discussion about time led by Ariel and Lisa and a design sprint ending in writing a manifesto led by Laura and Louie. Each activity added layers to my understanding of futures and how it could be applied to education. The manifesto activity, in particular, was a unique ending to a design sprint that many of the participants felt was a unique and insightful way to finish out the sprint. The goal is that we are not just immediately reacting to the latest fire or the newest trend, but instead playing the long game and doing the work to anticipate and build the world that our descendants will live in, even just a few years from now.
I am still working through my own thoughts about Futures Foundations and how to apply them in my own practice and context. Futures encourages thinking about the large-scale problems that may arise from the seemingly simple, common practices that we engage in throughout our daily lives. As an educator and professional development provider, I know that this type of thinking is essential not only in my own individual capacity, but also for our leaders, educators, and students. However, the deeply rooted immediacy of the myriad issues facing educators on a daily basis may remove us from a futures mindset. One of my main takeaways from my experience at the d.school is the power of a community, thought partners, and being open to feedback. As I internalized and sort through my experience and start to plan out the next steps, I hope to provide educators with experiences that help them see the value of these same processes.
If you are interested in the work happening in Futures or at the d.school in general, check out their website at dschool.stanford.edu.
