There are many models for doing fine work. Kiran Bir Sethi and her colleagues at the Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India, encourage their students to follow the design process of Feel, Imagine, Do and Share.
This became the basis for the Design For Change programme involving children around the world. Here is an introduction from the DFC website. You can discover more via the following link.
This year, Design for Change reaches 34 countries and over 300,000 schools inspiring hundreds of thousands of children, their teachers and parents, to celebrate the fact change is possible and that they can lead that change!
The challenge asks students to do four very simple things: Feel, Imagine, Do and Share.
Children are dreaming up and leading brilliant ideas all over the world, from challenging age-old superstitions in rural communities, to earning their own money to finance school computers to solving the problem of heavy school bags – children are proving that they have what it takes to be able to ‘design’ a future that is desired.
Looking at your own life and work, can you think of a time when you followed some of these steps?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to describe how you may have followed these in your own way.
Looking ahead, can you think of any situation where you may want to follow some of these steps in the future?
The path may start with Feel. You may feel strongly about something and want to show a better way. How can you build on your strengths and translate your feelings into something you want to do?
Looking at the field you want to explore, what can you learn from good examples around the world? How can you then settle on your picture of success?
The hard work comes next. Many people have ideas, but effort is required to achieve the goal. This was a sentiment echoed by many students involved in Design For Change. Some reported:
“We come from a generation where, if we get bored, we move to the next web page or other activity.
“We learned you have to be persistent to get things done. This was perhaps one of the greatest learning points.”
Imagine that you have done the work. How can you pass on the knowledge to other people? Sometimes it can be useful to set a deadline for sharing the success.
Different people follow different steps to make things happen. One approach is to follow the design process of Feel, Imagine, Do and Share.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.
Describe a specific project where you could follow elements of the design process of Feel, Imagine, Do and Share.
Describe the specific things you could do to follow these steps in your own way.
Describe the specific benefits of completing the project and, if appropriate, sharing it with the world.
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