The Pedagogical Potential of Design Thinking for CLIL Teaching

Abstract

This chapter examines the origins and singularity of Design Thinking as a humanistic discipline that can be successfully exploited in education. It explores the pedagogical potential inherent in Design Thinking strategies to foster creativity, critical thinking skills, and deep learning in content subjects taught through the medium of an additional language in CLIL settings. The author contends that Design Thinking will ultimately empower content teachers to rethink their teaching techniques repertoire, to redesign their CLIL practice, to cultivate inquiring minds in their classroom, to give students memorable learning experiences, and to equip them with core 21st-century competences related to creativity, critical thinking, teamwork, and intercultural awareness. Design Thinking strategies prompt learners to think out of the box and seek alternative answers to learning tasks, whilst cultivating LOTS and HOTS in Bloom's taxonomy and ensuring learning progression along both the content and language pathways.