"Design your own shoe." That's what high school students thought they were signing up to do when they volunteered for an immersive experience in design thinking.

Truth be told, the course description was not quite accurate. Shoe design "is really a Trojan horse for solving problems in a new way," acknowledged Chad Faber, director of the Knight Family Scholars Program at Catlin Gabel School, an independent K-12 school in Portland, Oregon. He facilitated the four-day, hands-on learning experience along with Greg Bamford (@gregbamford) from the Leading is Learning collaborative in Seattle. Several more Catlin Gabel staffers took part to learn by doing, building a cohort of teachers with design chops.

As a strategy for problem solving, design thinking is quickly gaining a foothold in a variety of K-12 settings. Ienough for walking from home to bus to office, but dressy enough for a professional setting.

Another team was inspired by talking with an eco-conscious consumer who bikes to his office job. With this user in mind, they started to imagine a dress shoe made of lightweight, sustainable materials that could be folded up to slip into a biker's pocket or backpack.

Expert Insights

As students worked through the process of researching, brainstorming, and prototyping their solutions, they had opportunities to learn from some of the world's leading shoe designers. Many of these experts happen to live and work in Oregon, home to Nike, Adidas America, Keen, and other top names in athletic and outdoor footwear. They didn't hesitate to share their time and insights with students.

Faber says educators can find