Chapter 7

Prototyping educational change: Learning from a ten-week service design programme

Authors: Sarah Dyer and Ksenija Kuzmina 

Abstract

This chapter shares our experiences of designing and running a ten-week service design programme in spring of 2021: The Innovation Lab. The programme was designed for educators and students at the University of Exeter in the UK, who had been awarded institutional grants to undertake education change projects. This chapter outlines the programme’s five defining characteristics as a structured service design programme, addressing real world problems, with a cohort of educators and students, coached by designers, and that the programme was a pilot itself. We consider three tensions which emerged during the programme: service design and business as usual, people and projects, design and implementation. The discussion is framed by the intention to provide our readers with a set of prompts for planning their own programme of service design activities.  

Authors

Sarah Dyer

Sarah is based in the Manchester Institute of Education. She is an Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning in Manchester’s Faculty of Humanities. She undertook the work explored in this book in her role as Inaugural Director of the Exeter Education Incubator. Sarah has been recognised for her commitment and innovative pedagogy as an Advance HE National Teaching Fellow. Her inclusive innovation leadership helps accelerate mindset change and collaboration across silos.  

Ksenija Kuzmina

Ksenija is a Senior Lecturer and a Programme Director of MA/MSc Design Innovation programme at Loughborough University London. Her research looks at the role of design in ecological and just transitions, contributing to the contexts of education, community development, and everyday living. Ksenija is a co-lead of Centre for Doctoral Training on homelessness and a guest editor of the Special Issue, Sustainability, entitled Sustainable Design Education and Implementation.