Schools today face complex issues that cannot be addressed by school leaders making decisions in isolation. Instead, collaboration with teaching teams is essential to maximize the benefits of school innovation. Design thinking involves a group of individuals collectively solving problems, ultimately leading to a shift in collective thinking. This paper explores how design thinking facilitates innovative actions and collaborative processes within school leadership teams. The case study focuses on a teaching excellence team at a school in Miaoli County, Taiwan. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the principal and ten teacher leaders, as well as relevant records and leadership questionnaires, to address the research objectives.

Through team meetings, teacher leaders identified key issues and discussed them empathetically to define the school's innovative development. The team brainstormed ideas, formulated action strategy plans, and implemented them, continuously adjusting through cyclical academic community meetings. The study found: (1) The principal, via the core team, conceptualized and tested new thematic curricula, while teacher leaders led other teachers in implementation, extending efforts to community parents and resource acquisition; (2) The principal promoted collaborative processes through design thinking, which consisted of four stages: trial period, teacher co-creation period, teacher-student co-learning period, and sustainable development period, with leadership effectiveness increasing over stages; (3) Notably, during the teacher-student co-creation period, design thinking expedited the rapid learning and growth of teacher leaders, enabling them to lead other teachers in developing micro-curriculum innovations on emerging topics, thus enhancing overall school effectiveness. Based on the findings, it is recommended that school leaders use design thinking to foster mindset shifts among teacher leaders, positively influence teacher leaders, and lead school teachers in driving school innovation.

Authors:
Min Yeh, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
An-Min Li, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Ms MIN YEH is a University Doctoral Student at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan

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