Design education prepares young designers with the skills and knowledge needed to develop as unique, creative problem solvers but also fosters critical consciousness. Designers are makers who should understand the social, cultural, environmental, and political consequences of their work. For this reason, I avoid style specific design teaching and favor a collegiate learning environment where each student, juror, or instructor’s ideas are valued equally. I acknowledge design thinking as a world view and embrace teaching moments in all interactions with students, the classroom, through service, or small moments of advisement between classes.

Through creative, collaborative activities, students learn to recognize and analyze design challenges and develop understanding regarding multiculturalism, global issues, environmental factors, and the positive and negative consequences of their craft. To engage students actively in the process, group work is central to my teaching strategies in early courses. This emphasis responds to the workplace but also aids in developing a studio culture on campus. Group projects, like the inflatable project, create opportunity to share divergent views, develop communication skills, and build trust.

I accept the responsibility of the student’s investment in their education with the greatest seriousness. While I never thought I would teach, it is the most important work of my career: to make a measurable and thoughtful impact through design, teaching, research, writing, and human interaction with a sensitivity to the person, place, and time; to embrace authenticity over prescribed esthetics, the status quo, and the expected, while referencing experience and proven practice.