Chapter 9: Complicating Design Thinking in Education: A University-School District Partnership to Design a School for the Future

“Design thinking” is one of the latest buzzwords in education (Kimbell, 2011; Korn & Emma, 2012; Lahey, 2017; Razzouk & Shute, 2012). Proponents argue that design thinking is a tried and tested process for fostering innovation in education while critics suggest that it is the latest fad to sweep through, and will, like others before it, fade away (Hernández-Ramírez, 2018). Irrespective of where one stands on this issue because educational institutions and structures are human-created, they are amenable to design (and redesign). Thus, design thinking may be a useful tool for educators to explore. There is, however, less clarity on how design thinking unfolds in complex educational contexts.