Teachers as reflective learning experience designers
How can teachers meaningfully integrate design thinking, making, and emerging technologies into formal school education? has been guiding Noora Bosch’s research and it is also the starting point for the December’s Design Literacy International Network – Engage with Ideas talk. Drawing on her work, the session invites participants to consider teachers not simply as instructors, but as reflective learning experience designers who actively shape open-ended, collaborative, and creative learning processes.
Based on a qualitative case study conducted in a Finnish lower secondary school, the talk will discuss findings published in the International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction. The study examined how teachers facilitated a design and maker education project in which students co-designed interactive textile products for preschool children. It focused on the pedagogical challenges and opportunities that emerged when teachers introduced design thinking, digital technologies, and participatory design practices into everyday school settings (Bosch, Härkki & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, 2025).
The study highlights that teaching design and maker education requires more than technical knowledge. Teachers need to navigate uncertainty, balance structure with openness, support collaboration, and continuously reflect on their pedagogical decisions. Through thematic analysis of in-situ reflections and interviews, the study identified three interconnected dimensions of teaching in design-based learning environments: the teacher as a design leader, the importance of collaboration and co-teaching, and the role of ongoing reflection in professional development.
Building on these findings, we would like to open a broader discussion on the future of education in technologically mediated societies. What kinds of competencies, mindsets, and institutional support do teachers need to facilitate meaningful design learning experiences? How can schools move beyond instrumental uses of technology toward more reflective, participatory, and human-centered approaches?
By positioning teachers as co-designers of learning experiences, the session connects to ongoing discussions on design literacy, democratic participation, creativity, and the role of design education in fostering critical engagement with technology and society. Participants are warmly invited to bring their own experiences and perspectives to the conversation.
Noora Bosch is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She recently completed her PhD, which explored the integration of design thinking into K–9 design and maker education, focusing on teachers’ evolving roles, creative design processes, and design empathy.
Drawing on the learning sciences, child-computer interaction, and concepts and methods from design fields, her research examines how design approaches can foster educational innovation and prepare learners to address complex real-world challenges. Her current research interests include computational empowerment, participatory design, and learning experience design, with a particular focus on teachers’ professional learning and the knowledge, mindsets, and competencies they need to support such innovation. In the future, she would like to explore how these areas connect to craft and repair as forms of sustainability education.
Reference
Bosch, N., Härkki, T., & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P. (2021). End Users in Students’ Participatory Design Process. In E. Bohemia, L. M. Nielsen, L. Pan, N. A.G.Z. Börekçi, & Y. Zhang (Eds.), Proceedings of the DRS Learn X Design 2021: 6th International Conference for Design Education Researchers (Vol. 1, pp. 68–77). Design Research Society. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs_lxd2021.01.241
Bosch, N., Härkki, T., & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P. (2025). Teachers as reflective learning experience designers: Bringing design thinking into school-based design and maker education. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 43, 100695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.100695