‘Design and Innovation’ in the School Curriculum

National Meet on introducing ‘Design and Innovation’ in the school curriculum was held at Industrial Design Center, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai on February 6-7, 2009. The aim of the meeting was to discuss and formulate guidelines for introducing ‘Design and Innovation’ as a subject in school curriculum in the context of India and prepare the groundwork for a white paper on this subject. This paper is available for download here.

The paper outlines the need for including ‘Design and Innovation’ in the school curriculum,

1. Design in the context of a country like India can play a very significant role in finding appropriate solutions to its problems.

2. Design by its own nature is creative, collaborative, multidisciplinary and is inclusive of many other fields.

3. The methodology of how design is learnt by hands on experience can make a difference to the process of learning different subjects in schools.

4. Design process involves knowledge gathering, analysis, discovery, and conceptualisation resulting in a problem solving activity and this in turn leads to experiential learning.

5. Design can bring sensitivity and awareness to Indian ‘Arts, Crafts, Culture and Environment’.

6. Design can help students develop values, attitudes, sensorial skills and critical thinking.

7. Design can make the students realize their creative and innovative potentials.

8. Design and Innovation can make a big difference to the expected growth of creative needs in our country.

from National Meet on introducing ‘Design and Innovation’ in school curriculum

Does conventional education bring out the best in you?

With Primary Education dealing with developing skills and competencies in the three R’s (Reading, W(R)iting and A(R)ithmetic), half of the brain is being completely ignored!

“You have two brains: a left and a right. Modern brain scientists now know that your left brain is your verbal and rational brain; it thinks serially and reduces its thoughts to numbers, letters and words… Your right brain is your nonverbal and intuitive brain; it thinks in patterns, or pictures, composed of ‘whole things,’ and does not comprehend reductions, either numbers, letters, or words.”

From The Fabric of Mind, by the eminent scientist and neurosurgeon, Richard Bergland. Viking Penguin, Inc., New York 1985. pg.1