Creativity is an inherent part of human development, it is the progress of thought; our natural inclination to innovate, invent, and create. Simply put, we have the ability to process, analyze and imagine future outcomes of everyday situations. Evidence suggests that creative education can support cognitive development and enhance our ability to problem solve. In the past decade, curriculum reform in Kenya has shifted from teacher-based approaches to learner-centered approaches (with the introduction of Competency-Based Curriculum). While this may support the next generation of creative thinkers, the lack of funding to support creative education on a national level and the insufficient supply of free resources to most public schools pose a challenge to educators. Despite the appeal of the new curriculum, requirements for parents to be more involved in their children's learning further pronounce wealth and education gaps amongst students, further impeding the child's success. This design thesis presents the iterative process behind the ongoing development process of Somoto, a creative learning service established through the DesignX accelerator at MIT. Through community collaboration, Somoto aims to establish a network of creative learning spaces in Nairobi, Kenya. Drawing from a place-based community development approach; the design proposal identifies community assets and existing resources such as community libraries and cyber cafes to enhance creative education programming within low-income communities in Nairobi.

How lessons from kindergarten can help everyone develop the creative thinking skills needed to thrive in today's society. In kindergartens these days, children spend more time with math worksheets and phonics flashcards than building blocks and finger paint. Kindergarten is becoming more like the rest of school. In Lifelong Kindergarten, learning expert Mitchel Resnick argues for exactly the opposite: the rest of school (even the rest of life) should be more like kindergarten. To thrive in today's fast-changing world, people of all ages must learn to think and act creatively—and the best way to do that is by focusing more on imagining, creating, playing, sharing, and reflecting, just as children do in traditional kindergartens. Drawing on experiences from more than thirty years at MIT's Media Lab, Resnick discusses new technologies and strategies for engaging young people in creative learning experiences. He tells stories of how children are programming their own games, stories, and inventions (for example, a diary security system, created by a twelve-year-old girl), and collaborating through remixing, crowdsourcing, and large-scale group projects (such as a Halloween-themed game called Night at Dreary Castle, produced by more than twenty kids scattered around the world). By providing young people with opportunities to work on projects, based on their passions, in collaboration with peers, in a playful spirit, we can help them prepare for a world where creative thinking is more important than ever before.

Cultivating Professional Identity in Design is a nuanced, comprehensive companion for designers across disciplines honing their identities, self-perception, personal strengths, and essential attributes. Designers’ identities, whether rooted in education, workforce training, digital technology, arts and graphics, built environment, or other fields, are always evolving, influenced by any combination of current mindset, concrete responsibilities, team dynamics, and more. Applicable to designers of all contexts, this inspiring yet rigorous book guides practitioners and students to progress with ten key traits: empathy, uncertainty, creativity, ethics, diversity/equity/inclusion, reflection, learning, communication, collaboration, and decision-making. Though it details a complete journey from start to finish, this book acknowledges the varying paths of designers’ roles and is structured for a flexible, highly iterative reading experience. Segments can be read individually or out of order and revisited for new insights. Current and future stages of development – education experience, early-career opportunities, mid-career accomplishments, and/or career transitions – are factored in without hierarchy. Specific takeaways, activities, and reflection exercises are intended to work across settings and levels of experience. Design hopefuls and experts alike will find a new way to participate in and persevere through their work.

From the preface by Deborah Meier: "We have a long way to go to make John Holt's dream available to all children. But his books make it possible and easier for many of us to join him in the journey." In this enduring classic, rich with deep, original insight into the nature of early learning, John Holt was the first to make clear that, for small children, "learning is as natural as breathing." In his delightful book he observes how children actually learn to talk, to read, to count, and to reason, and how, as adults, we can best encourage these natural abilities in our children.

Chapters 1, 6 and 8 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This collection, edited and written by the leading scholars and experts of innovation and maker education in Finland, introduces invention pedagogy, a research-based Finnish approach for teaching and learning through multidisciplinary, creative design and making processes in formal school settings. The book outlines the background of, and need for, invention pedagogy, providing various perspectives for designing and orchestrating the invention process while discussing what can be learned and how learning happens through inventing. In addition, the book introduces the transformative, school-level innovator agency needed for developing whole schools as innovative communities. Featuring informative case study examples, the volume explores the theoretical, pedagogical, and methodological implications for the research and practice of invention pedagogy in order to further the field and bring new perspectives, providing a new vision for schools for decades to come. Intermixing the results of cutting-edge research and best practice within STEAM-education and invention pedagogy, this book will be essential reading for researchers, students, and scholars of design and technology education, STEM education, teacher education, and learning sciences more broadly. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Education needs new ways to prepare individuals and societies for the multitude of changing challenges in the twenty-first century. In today's world—characterized by digitization, increasing speed, and complexity—design thinking has established itself as a powerful approach to human-centered innovation that can help address complicated problems and guide change in all areas of life. Design thinking formats not only teach skills that benefit people as they expand their "toolbox," but also create affective and cognitive outcomes. This book includes experiences, approaches, and reflections on design thinking in education from different perspectives of renowned design thinking experts from the network of the Hasso Plattner Institute and its School of Design Thinking. Using real-world examples, the book provides insights into requirements and protocols that design thinking practitioners can apply to transform their academic or professional ecosystem. It will be of interest for readers who work in or are interested in a wide variety of educational contexts.

In American higher education, community colleges present new opportunities for many, embodying the democratic essence since their early roots. Originally conceived as junior colleges preparing students for university transfers, these institutions have undergone a transformative journey, evolving into the comprehensive, open-access pillars of education that define our present landscape. Despite a shared mission, a disparity exists among community colleges, with some rising to prominence as leaders in the community-college movement. Amidst the challenges posed by the two World Wars, economic fluctuations, and societal shifts, community colleges have adapted to serve diverse needs, encompassing workforce development, community education, and developmental studies. Narratives and Strategies of Effective Leadership in Community Colleges takes on the challenge faced by these institutions—maintaining excellence amid the evolving demands of a dynamic society. Narratives and Strategies of Effective Leadership in Community Colleges is a pivotal resource for higher-education practitioners navigating the complex realm of leadership challenges in community colleges. It portrays community colleges as national treasures in higher education. Beyond mere success stories, each chapter details the intricacies of effective leadership. Targeting governing boards, faculty, leaders, and administrators, the book provides invaluable insights into strategic planning, student support, campus revitalization, and financial management. It serves as a crucial guide for those aspiring to elevate their institutions.

This book offers insight into designerly ways of knowing from the perspectives of experts and professionals engaging in diverse forms of design in workplaces and other public domains. It also aids in the understanding of design practices from designers’ viewpoints via case studies. By pursuing a reflective inquiry in their design epistemology (designerly ways of knowing), design praxiology (practices of design), or design phenomenology (forms of designs), self-studies of design practices, and presenting studies of designs, the authors of this book demonstrate how they influence the people and the object of inquiry or design. The case studies presented in this book also illustrate how designers develop their expertise, and provides inspiration for the incorporation of design-thinking and practice in education.