THE THIRD TEACHER: Design Thinking Inspires Change in Education
Friday, April 23, 2010
By: Catherine Sharifi

New book shows 79 ways design can transform teaching and learning

CHICAGO April 23, 2010 - Design thinking and the innovation it brings continues to impact industries, companies, and brands. Now Bruce Mau Design (BMD), a global design and innovation studio, has applied design thinking to inspire change in education.

The result of Bruce Mau Design's work, with co-authors OWP/P Cannon Design and VS Furniture, is a new book that is being released across the United States and Canada - THE THIRD TEACHER: 79 WAYS YOU CAN USE DESIGN TO TRANSFORM TEACHING & LEARNING.  It explores the critical link between the school environment and how children learn. It offers 79 ways to transform education ... practical, and fresh ideas that can be implemented as easily by school staff as by parents of school-aged children.

Designers at Bruce Mau Design were eager to contribute to this project, knowing that they could harness design thinking to help inspire change in today's schools to prepare tomorrow's leaders for a very different world.

"Whether a kindergartner merely gets by or positively thrives in the years to come depends largely on the experiences she has in school right now," says Laura Stein, associate creative director for Bruce Mau Design, who helped guide her Studio team to develop content, graphic design, and research for the book. "Many people are unaware that the environment plays a large part in teaching and learning and we wanted this book to inform and inspire change at the same time."

Stein says that The Third Teacher is a "how-to" guide for teachers, administrators, and parents, offering 79 ways design can make a difference. Among the "ways":

1.Everyone can be a designer
Look to many sources for design inspiration. Teachers and students, as well as architects and designers, have ideas about their ideal learning environment. All can play a part to radically transform education.

7. Make janitors guardians
School custodians and caretakers play a vital role in protecting student health. They are guardians of the school environment. Respect that role by providing cleaning staff with the best available training, technology, and supplies.

23. Make classrooms agile
A learning space that can be reconfigured on a dime will engage different kinds of learners and teachers.

36. Roll up your sleeves
A new school (or other positive changes) will be realized faster if parents pitch in to make it happen.

Featuring bold graphics and a compendium of useful information organized as a "how-to guide," THE THIRD TEACHER features incredible case studies from around the world, and contributions from experts including children's singer and advocate Raffi, author and creativity consultant Sir Ken Robinson, scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki, acclaimed educator Howard Gardner, and others who are working to create a new blueprint for the future of education.

THE THIRD TEACHER: 79 WAYS YOU CAN USE DESIGN TO TRANSFORM TEACHING & LEARNING (Abrams, April 2010; U.S. $29.95/CAN $38.95)

About Bruce Mau Design
Bruce Mau Design is a premier innovation and design studio. BMD uses design to originate, innovate and renovate businesses, brands, products and experiences. Clients include Coca-Cola, McDonald's, MTV, Arizona State University, Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena, New Meadowlands Stadium, Frank Gehry, Herman Miller, Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus, and the feature length documentary The 11th Hour. THE THIRD TEACHER focuses on the positive impact of design on educational environments for K-12 students, but BMD's work extends into higher education as well. The Studio's work with Arizona State University involves an ambitious and forward-thinking strategic plan: to remake the American university as a place of purpose-driven education. Post-graduate efforts include The Institute Without Boundaries, an interdisciplinary program that the Studio developed to create "a new breed of designer." It is this collective work that secured BMD a place within the Design Literacy Retreat at the Philip Johnson Glass House.

www.thethirdteacher.com
www.brucemaudesign.com

Contact:
Leslie Graham, 847.668.6991 leslie@grahammarketing@comcast.net
Cathy Sharifi, 312.493.5633 cathy@grahammarketing@comcast.net