Design for Change
Design for Change (DFC) is a global movement of and by children by channelling their ‘I CAN’ spirit.[1]. Kiran Bir Sethi founded DFC on 15th August 2009 [2] using a simplified design-thinking methodology - Feel, Imagine, Do & Share (FIDS). The FIDS framework is based on Design Thinking principles to guide children to - observe and walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and think of life/problems from their perspective (Feel), think about all the possible solutions no matter how idealistic, and delve deeper to question various beliefs and systems of thought to find the root cause of the problem (Imagine), unleash their I CAN power and take action to solve the problems that are identified by collaborating with like-minded peers and a mentor (Do) and finally spread the message of their progress and try to scale their project to reach as many people as possible to not only increase the impact of their I CAN power but to ignite the same in someone else (Share) [3]. DFC aims to incorporate 21st century skills such as compassion, critical thinking, creativity, problem solving and leadership in children[3] and has been identified as one of the key organisations in meeting the United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goals [4].
History[edit]
It was 1996 when Kiran Bir Sethi’s son had come back from school with an abysmal grade on his English essay [5][6]. It was because he did not write exactly what the teacher had given but instead tried to be creative and curate his own story. Both she and her son were shocked. His creativity was now stifled. Kiran noticed such instances in the following years and thus decided to start her own school. In 2001, she established The Riverside School, Ahmedabad, India [5]. It is over there that the idea of letting students believe they can make a change started. In 2007 the school started a project, aProCh, to spread the I CAN message to children across the city of Ahmedabad, for which Kiran Sethi was named an Ashoka Fellow[7]. Two years later it was time to spread the message throughout the country and that is when Design for Change was born [5]. Design for Change now had the colossal goal of spreading and reaching out globally to over 180 countries and impact 1 billion children to make them aware, enabled and empowered [8].
Partners[edit]
Since its inception in 2009 DFC has not only had an impact in India but it began to spread to the world [5]. It became a global movement of children and in the past 12 years it has now spread to over 60 countries and regions impacting over 2 million children across schools globally[2] . DFC is divided into DFC Global and then multiple DFC partner countries, each of which are responsible for reaching out to schools and children in their own country [1]. DFC has had multiple projects running at local as well as global levels with multiple network partners such as Parle-G [9] with whom they work in collaboration to help spread the message.
Below is a list of all the country partners[1] :
| Country Partner | Stories of Change |
| Argentina | 1 |
| Australia | 4 |
| Bangladesh | 5 |
| Belgium | 2 |
| Bhutan | 189 |
| Brazil | 111 |
| Bulgaria | 5 |
| Chile | 151 |
| China | 5 |
| Colombia | 13 |
| Croatia | 1 |
| Denmark | 39 |
| Dominican Republic | 10 |
| Ecuador | 36 |
| France | 4 |
| Germany | 1 |
| Ghana | 2 |
| Hong Kong | 9 |
| India | 15124 |
| Indonesia | 3 |
| Iran | 3 |
| Ireland | 2 |
| Israel | 301 |
| Japan | 5 |
| Jordan | 5 |
| Kenya | 18 |
| Lebanon | 13 |
| Liberia | 1 |
| Lithuania | 7 |
| Luxembourg | 3 |
| Macau | 21 |
| Madagascar | 12 |
| Malaysia | 166 |
| Mexico | 22 |
| Morocco | 4 |
| Nepal | 4 |
| Netherlands | 4 |
| New Zealand | 2 |
| Nigeria | 4 |
| Paraguay | 2 |
| Peru | 160 |
| Philippines | 22 |
| Poland | 2 |
| Portugal | 83 |
| Qatar | 1 |
| Rainforest | 21 |
| Romania | 29 |
| Saudi Arabia | 17 |
| Serbia | 17 |
| Singapore | 378 |
| Slovenia | 2 |
| South Africa | 22 |
| Spain | 556 |
| Syria | 3 |
| Taiwan | 314 |
| Turkey | 5 |
| UAE | 53 |
| USA | 38 |
| Uganda | 2 |
| Ukraine | 2 |
| Vietnam | 5 |
| Zimbabwe | 6 |
Organisational Structure and Initiatives[edit]
Founded in 2009, under the Riverside education foundation, DFC was based out of Ahmedabad, India. After 9 years of continuous growth, on 25th May 2018 Design for Change was officially deemed a Not for Profit entity in the United States of America with a 501 C3 certificate[10] . The title was now officially changed to Design for Change, Global with its headquarters in Boston, USA[10] . A team of board members now lead the way along with the founder, core team, advisory board and student council. While the advisory board and core team are majorly made up of experienced educators the student council is made up of children from around the world. The aim of the student council is to provide a platform for the students to voice their opinions and drive forth the global I CAN movement.
With this base structure, over the past 12 years DFC has incorporated various initiatives to grow its reach and improve networks. The programmes initiated are:
I CAN Marketplace[edit]
With an aim to share the DFC student’s projects and help reach the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), DFC has come up with a 2030 vision[11] . The vision is to get individuals and organisations to take up projects initially started off by students and scale them up to reach more people globally.
Be the Change (BTC)[edit]
BTC is an annual event which acts as a platform for students from various countries to come, present their projects and share it with the rest of the DFC family[11] . Every year the event takes place in a new country. It serves as an integral platform for networking. In 2019 over 2500 children from over 40 countries flew down to Rome for the ‘I CAN Children’s Global Summit’[12] . On the final day, a private audience was held with Pope Francis inside Vatican City’s Aula Paula VI Hall[13] .
Rainforest Kids Challenge[edit]
The Rainforest Kids Challenge is DFC’s attempt to help safeguard our rainforests and act in solidarity with climate activists by inviting submissions for ideas and projects from students from around the world using the FIDS framework[11] .
DFC Publications[edit]
DFC has a host of story/comic books, FIDS cards and lesson plans to help aid teachers, educators and children with the FIDS process[3]
Impact[edit]
In collaboration with The Good Project, an initiative under Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a survey and research study was conducted to test the impact of DFC. It declared it to be the most inclusive initiative as 56% participation comes from rural and semi urban schools solving problems in 16 diverse sectors from education to drug abuse, traffic problems, inclusion, disability and many more[14]. Over the years it identified an equal participation from girls and boys. Students developed positive attitudes towards studies with over 80% saying they were now highly motivated[14].
INSEAD in collaboration with Stanford University conducted an in-depth analysis and wrote a research paper studying the impact of the FIDS methodology on children’s creativity[15]. The study concluded that children showed a significant improvement in ideational fluency and divergent thinking[15]. Additionally, the students reported a boost in confidence especially amongst the female students[15].
Further on, an educational Research Consulting Firm ‘Eval Design’, studied the effects of the DFC programme, in Tamil Nadu, India, on multiple stakeholders such as the students, teachers and parents[16]. The students had been observed to have developed greater creativity and 21st century skills and attitudes. Within a short time frame there was a 28% increase in confidence and a 11% increase in social consciousness. The teacher involvement improved and parents developed a positive attitude towards their child’s education[16]. Overall the DFC programme was deemed cost effective i.e. it takes USD10 to train a teacher, with at least 10 students being impacted by a teacher thus a child can increase their creativity, confidence, critical thinking and leadership skills for as little as $1[16]. The programme was declared easy to replicate with sustainable and long-term positive changes[16].
Moving on, Terpel Foundation in partnership with DFC Colombia ran a comparative study on the development of children’s skills using the DFC frameworks. A significant increase in empathy, creativity, problem solving, planning, collaboration and critical thinking was observed[17]
In 2018, DFC France conducted a study with 159 students to see the effects of the FIDS process on student’s confidence and ability to succeed at school. It was concluded that the children had developed a strong sense of resilience with a 11% increase in self-efficacy[18]
Recognition and Awards[edit]
1. In 2011 Kiran Bir Sethi won the Index Design to Improve Life Award for her work at DFC[19]
2. Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Award 2012[20]
3. Top 10 Champion of Reimagine Learning Challenge, 2014[21]
4. In 2014 Kiran Bir Sethi was a Global Teacher Prize finalist[22]
5. Asia Game Changer Award[23]
6. Listed on Global Education Innovation Initiative[24]
7. Kiran was awarded the “Light of Freedom” Award at the Vital Voices, Leadership Awards[25]
8. Recognised as a part of the top 100 innovative educational projects in the world, 2017[2]
9. Kiran was invited to speak at TED India[5]
10. Selected as Most Impactful and Inspiring Innovators in K12 Education from around the world for HundrED 2021 Global collection[26]
11. Ashoka Globalizer[27]
12. Kiran was awarded the “Earth Prize” Award, at Luino Lago, Italy[2]
13. Kiran featured in a Book titled "Vital Voices: 100 Women Using their #PowertoEmpower"[28]
14. Awarded the Qimpro Award 2017 for Excellence in Education[27]
15. Patricia Blunt Koldyke Fellowship in 2014[29]
16. Call to Conscience Award[30]
17. Lexus Design Award 2019, Pune[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ":: Design for Change ::". www.dfcworld.com. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Design for Change". hundred.org. 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Design for Change". globaled.gse.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ https://www.globalgoals.org/4-quality-education
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Sethi, Kiran, Kids, take charge, retrieved 2021-04-25
- ↑ "Kiran Bir Sethi - Asia Game Changer". Asia Society. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ https://www.ashoka.org/en/fellow/kiran-bir-sethi
- ↑ "D is for Design For Change: Enabling Children To Shape The Future". The Positive Encourager. 2014-04-02. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ "Parle-G partners with Design for Change to help kids make a difference". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 ":: Design for Change ::". dfcworld.com. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Design For Change Celebrates Young Changemakers With It's First Ever I CAN Children's Global Summit". hundred.org. 2019-12-13. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ "I CAN Vatican Global Summit". EducationWorld. 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ "Pope to school children: "I can" must become "we can together" - Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va. 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 https://www.dfcworld.com/file2015/research_1.pdf
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 https://www.dfcworld.com/file2015/research_stanford.pdf
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 https://www.dfcworld.com/file2015/india_report.pdf
- ↑ https://www.dfcworld.com/file2015/research_colombia.pdf
- ↑ https://www.dfcworld.com/file2015/France_Research_study.pdf
- ↑ "The Index Project". theindexproject.org. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ Foundation, The Rockefeller. "Design for Change Receives Innovation Award from The Rockefeller Foundation". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ "Just Announced: 10 Champions of Learning Through Play". Changemakers. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ "Indian Teacher Makes Final Ten For World's First $1 Million Global Teacher Prize". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ "Chanda Kochhar among three Indians get Asia Game Changer awards". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ "Vega Schools & Design for Change listed in the most prestigious Top 100 K-12 education innovation list of hundrED". www.scoonews.com. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ Kiran Bir Sethi: Light of Freedom Award Speech, 2018 Global Leadership Awards, retrieved 2021-04-25
- ↑ https://cdn.hundred.org/uploads/report/file/35/HundrED_Spotlight_Creativity.pdf
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Kiran Sethi". Vital Voices. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
- ↑ "Vital Voices: 100 Women Using their Power to Empower". Vital Voices. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
- ↑ Chicago Tonight | Koldyke Fellow | Season 2014, retrieved 2021-04-26
- ↑ Stanford, © Stanford University; Notice, California 94305 Copyright Complaints Trademark (2009-01-07). "Celebrations honor Martin Luther King Jr". Stanford University. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
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