The Development and Evolution of Program Prototypes in Design Thinking, Creative Development and Collaboration in Teacher Education: A Case Study

Abstract

This case study focuses on the design, development and analysis of three consecutive graduate program prototypes in education entitled Creative Development in Educational Practice, Design Thinking for Innovation and Collaborative Creativity & Design Thinking for Innovation over a seven-year period in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary. The design of these program prototypes was informed by the increasing prominence of competencies in creativity, innovation and collaboration in national, state and provincial educational curricula. Central to prototype design and development is the view that it is an educational imperative to move from a general consumptive-intense educational orientation with the primary educator role focused on transfer of knowledge to an educational culture of collaborative creativity across diverse discipline contexts where educator roles encompass that of designer, facilitator, collaborator and mentor. The design of these programs focused on the creative development of the educator to increase creative and collaborative capacity through progressive application of design thinking in a variety of educational contexts. The case study narratives are in the form of a metalogue describing the design, evolution and analysis of these consecutive program prototypes viewed through the lenses of program designer, program instructors and program participants.