Valuable for classrooms, homeschools, and community groups: a guide to problem-based learning for the greater good.
With clear organization and a focus on fostering growth and action, this guide to the design thinking process offers much to young innovators and the educators who empower them.
While design thinking has been part of the curriculum for some time, this simple how-to guide extends the “model originated by IDEO and the Stanford d.school” to include “designing for social impact”—a special focus on helping people design equitable and sustainable solutions to community problems. The book employs colorful graphic elements and a flexible, step-by-step model that will enable users to replicate the successes of the sample projects highlighted in its anecdotes and case studies, including innovations that help people with disabilities. Each chapter immerses readers in one phase of the design process while keeping an eye on the larger goal through tools such as troubleshooting aids and specific techniques, like non-defensive listening. With its long list of resources and sources to consult, the book will aid educators who are looking to launch a design thinking program, but the unvarnished language and direct approach make this book accessible to young readers who are hoping to bring about change in their communities. Veteran educator Estes encourages a positive mindset built on empathy, collaboration, curiosity, and openness to differences that enhances learning and growth in all settings.
Valuable for classrooms, homeschools, and community groups: a guide to problem-based learning for the greater good. (author’s note, glossary, source notes, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9798765608005
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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