In Participatory Design of Technology for Inclusive Education: A Case Study, the authors discussed how participatory design and TUIs could support inclusive education by promoting engagement in both teachers and students. My main takeaways from the reading are the concepts of “mutual learning” and “design for all”. The authors argued that mutual learning happens throughout the design process when the contributors share questions, doubts, and thoughts without judgement and hierarchy. I think this process is one of the necessary factors that can enhance the idea of design for all, to address a diversity of needs. Back in Thailand, I don’t have much experience with participatory design. The one that seems to be closest was a high school activity, or more like a small competition, for every class to design a dress from recycled materials. Back then, our class brainstormed ideas with the teacher. Because it was non-academic activity, the conversation was not too serious, while the teacher was also really open. I think this kind of activities is not only promoting inclusion in the classroom, but also encouraging the student to be engaged.

I had a lot of thoughts and questions coming up when I read Design Practices: “Nothing about Us without Us”. The reading covered many topics related to diversity in design and argued why participatory design matters. As I also studied human-centered design in undergrad, I learned about inclusive design and had experience with co-design methods. However, connecting it to the educational field made me wonder if the contexts would change. Since I’m a discussion leader this week, Stefanie and I decided to talk about the readings before working on the slides. When we touched on the matrix of domination, we were wondering about differences between Thai schools and schools in the US. Though the systems might be different, one thing we found interesting is that, there seemed to be less female teachers in higher education but more in kindergarten. This led to the discussion on male-dominated fields and stereotypes among genders.

Burning Questions: