THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION By DELLI - DESIGN METASYSTEM APPROACH...

The future of education as a centralised challenge in the Design process is not done with repetition of formulas, nor is it done with pre-defined card games!

The construction and ideation of scenarios on the future of Education can be build with systemic tools that ignite a debate of knowledges, experiences that are wanted, based on: transdisciplinary, multi-generational, multi-cultural and without borders between what are "space of teaching and community space "approach.

The new design model we built at DELLI Research Haus - DELLI Design Metasystem, involves the investment of our time and know-how in the construction of new tools that aim, in the initial phase of the Design process for innovation, debating and understanding each of the sub-systems that interact in the ecosystem dynamics regarding the "SUM OF THE PARTS".

The effort of the DELLI Metasystem transdisciplinary team is to "design" the workshops and "conceive" personalized dynamics so that the same co-creation group can have stimuli to think about: CHANGE, PROCESSES, LEADERSHIP, MODELS, PRACTICES , SPACES AND TECHNOLOGIES, that is, logics centred on the Person, the Intangible and the Tangible assets.

This initial phase of the process, which is often seen as only a step where we intend to "perceive" the perceptions and associations that Stakeholders have of the reality and context of the innovation challenge, is for us much deeper and is a PILLAR key to the success of the entire Design Innovation Process.

It is at this stage that we must, as facilitators introduce knowledge, experience and good practices, that is, in addition to the stakeholders' understanding of the reality they are challenged to decipher, it is also relevant to "pull" the critical capacity of each participant.

Our years of experience with the implementation of Design Thinking processes in which we validate the IDEAS (R) EVOLUTION methodology has always indicated to us that the Definition of WHY and PURPOSE that should guide innovation projects had to be based on Knowledge and Critical Thinking, that is to say, this fundamental pillar of the whole process can not be only dependent on the knowledge of the Stakeholders, they need to be challenged to THINK deeper and to DEBATE based on the broader information that we have as Facilitators, to confront them.

Therefore, in addition to the investment in systemic tools and with a focus on the know-how of each of the sub-systems, in DELLI Metasystem we give the same relevance to the moments of group dynamics (Workshops) with the moments of meeting of the team of transdisciplinary experts (Labshops).

We also include in our process, moments in which the stakeholders / participants who are with us to co-create, are confronted with the results obtained by their dynamics versus the results obtained by the group of state-of-the-art experts and Best Practices with the contextual and conceptual focus. It is only after this phase of Thought and Critical Action about information that the insights that will generate the next dynamics of the Metasystem Design Process are defined.

In the current applied project of validation of the process and the tools of DESIGN METASYSTEM regarding the innovation of Education that we are carrying out with the support of four School groups: Alcanema, Aveiro, Montijo and Alvalade, and also with the support of the Companies: Steelcase Education and Promethean, we are exactly at this stage of our process in the transition between the DIAGNOSIS (deconstruction and Fragmentation) and the CRITICAL PROJECT (prioritization and Exploration).

Our project team is constituted in the logic of transdisciplinarity: Researchers in the areas of Design, Education, Neuroscience, Psychology, Sport and the Arts.

The group of participants includes different stakeholders: Students (of various cycles), Teachers, Parents, School directors, School Employees, Local Businessmen, Community Representatives, Trade Unions and other relevant opinion-makers in the communities of insertion of the school group.

The first Workshops have been going on in an exciting way! The group of participants at each school has been fantastic, they are all committed and motivated to contribute to the design of a new school and new teaching / learning formats.

"Listening" to the will to CHANGE coming from the younger students, realizing how much their contributions are Genuine and often without "Stereotypes" indicate to us that this is a good pathway.

MORE they indicate to us that the path of DESIGN METASYSTEM that is the option for the complexity in detente to the option for the simplicity and the ease of the process and of the tools, is the way of obtaining through DESIGN future results more profound and whose impact of its implementation are to show possible ways of innovation for the education sector that we need so much and that we are all pursuing.

Today's article focuses on the early phases of METASYSTEM, the Diagnosis and the Critical Project. We will soon be able to communicate the validation of the SYSTEMIC SOLUTIONS (Argumentation and Amplification) and IMPACT (Validation and Action) phases.

We are motivated and committed to building, through our applied research posture, a proposal of evolution of Innovation processes by DESIGN with a OUR VISION, based on our experience because we are NEVER content to REPLACE Models and Processes of "OTHERS" as they unfortunately do many DESIGN research centres that I know ...

Perhaps the main reason is because we do not FEAR to try and ERRATE so what moves us is the process and not just the end of the investigation, ie the process of investigation in action is valid exactly by the trajectories along the way, and these AS I SAY ALWAYS No one "erases" them nor takes away the merit of DOING ...

Américo Mateus - HEAD OF RESEARCH DELLI - Design Lusófona Lisboa and VICE-DIRECTOR of HEI-LAB - Digital Human Environments Interactions - ULHT