Design thinking is a process through which we solve a problem, not forgetting to consider the user's wishes when looking for a solution. Design thinking is used in several fields such as entrepreneurship, industry, commerce, and education. Design thinking methods can also be used in kindergarten. In preschool, we can discuss the development of creativity during the creation process itself more than the final product. A designer must be empathetic, optimistic, able to work in a team, accept the opinions of others, and be experimental.
The main purpose of the thesis was to investigate the design thinking of kindergarten teachers and preschool practitioners, as well as the importance of individual creative constructs in implementation. With the research, we wanted to familiarize kindergarten teachers and preschool practitioners with the importance of including creative thinking in their activities.
In the theoretical part, we emphasized the explanation of the design thinking concept and defined it. We emphasized the characteristics of a good designer and how these are manifested in the designing process.
We showed the connection of design thinking with the Kindergarten Curriculum and highlighted some activities that the Kindergarten Curriculum defines and are related to the process of design thinking. With the example of good practice, we defined design thinking on a practical example. We analyzed the research that Avsec (2023) validated and determined 14 constructs of design thinking.
In the empirical part, we analyzed the data obtained with a survey questionnaire, using the quantitative approach of empirical research. Kindergarten teachers and preschool practitioners participated in the research. We used a design thinking questionnaire designed by Dosi and validated in a recent study by Avsec (2023).
We found that kindergarten teachers and preschool practitioners attach more importance to the use of planning phases than actually using them in the implementation of their activities. They attribute the greatest importance to the empathy phase, while the inclusion of prototyping in their activities is the least important to them.
With this Bachelor’s thesis, I wanted to achieve that, by taking into account the phases of design thinking, kindergarten teachers would get inspired when creating activities, and that they would improve their teaching activity by including these phases
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