Design Thinking and the Art of Professional Development

Article by Dr Angelos Bollas

Professional development is one of those phrases that teachers hear so often that it risks losing meaning. For many in ELT, it brings to mind mandatory workshops, accreditation requirements, or reflective forms completed at the end of the academic year. Yet the need for professional growth has never been more urgent. Our classrooms, physical and virtual, change constantly: new technologies emerge, learner profiles diversify, and societal expectations reshape what we do. The question, then, is not whether we engage in professional development, but how we might do so in a way that is purposeful, authentic, and sustainable.

In recent years, I have found unexpected inspiration in a framework that originated far from education: design thinking. Initially developed within the fields of product and service design, design thinking is a process that helps people understand complex problems, imagine creative solutions, and test them through small-scale action.

Its central principle is empathy, a deep understanding of the people for whom we are designing. Although it was first used in contexts like engineering, healthcare, and business innovation, its human-centred and iterative approach makes it an ideal lens for educators who wish to shape their own professional journeys.

What Is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking emerged from the recognition that effective solutions rarely come from abstract analysis alone. Instead, they come from immersing oneself in a context, observing how people think and behave, and developing ideas grounded in their lived experiences. The process was popularised by design firm IDEO and thinkers such as Tim Brown, who describe it not as a rigid sequence but as a set of overlapping stages that encourage experimentation and creativity.

In most models, these stages include:

1. Empathise: Understand the people and context involved.
2. Define: Clarify the challenge and articulate it as a meaningful question.
3. Ideate: Generate a wide range of ideas without judging them too early.
4. Prototype: Test small versions of ideas quickly to learn from feedback.
5. Reflect (or Test): Evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what to try next.

Design Thinking is often visualised as looping rather than linear, acknowledging that innovation requires revisiting earlier stages, reframing the problem, and learning continuously. At its heart lies an attitude of curiosity, empathy, and action, qualities that resonate strongly with what it means to be a teacher.

Why Bring Design Thinking into Professional Development (PD)?

In ELT, professional development is, more often than not, reactive, shaped by institutional requirements, new curricula, or the latest technology we are asked to adopt. While such initiatives have their place, they can make PD feel fragmented or imposed rather than meaningful. Design Thinking offers a refreshing alternative, a way to design your own development based on your values, context, and aspirations.

The idea is simple but powerful. If we treat our growth as a design project, we shift our role from passive participant to active creator. We start not with what institutions expect from us, but with what we need, what we hope for, and what our learners might gain if we continue to evolve.

Stage 1: Empathise — Listening to Yourself

Design Thinking always begins with empathy: understanding the humans at the centre of the challenge. In this case, that person is you.

Before setting goals or signing up for another course, pause to explore your own experience as an educator. Ask yourself:

• Who are my learners, and what do they need from me?
• What aspects of teaching give me energy and joy?
• What situations frustrate or deplete me?
• What values shape my decisions in the classroom?

This is not idle introspection; it’s data collection. Just as designers observe users to understand their needs, teachers can observe themselves to uncover patterns and priorities. You may discover that your motivation comes from creative lesson design, or that you long to deepen your expertise in learner assessment. Empathising with yourself helps you identify the real questions driving your growth.

Stage 2: Define — From Reflection to Focus

Once you’ve explored your motivations and challenges, the next step is to define a clear focus. Designers often use the phrase “How might I…?” to frame this step, because it transforms a static problem into an open-ended challenge.

For example:

• How might I make my feedback more dialogic and learner-led?
• How might I transition from classroom teaching into materials writing?
• How might I use technology to support autonomy rather than control?

The phrasing matters. “How” invites exploration; “might” implies possibility rather than certainty; “I” locates responsibility and agency with the teacher. This way of defining your goal immediately makes PD feel more creative; less about fixing weaknesses and more about designing opportunities.

Stage 3: Ideate — Opening the Door to Possibility

Now comes the creative phase. Ideation means generating as many ideas as possible, without judging them too soon. The goal is to stretch your thinking beyond the familiar.

When I’ve used this stage in workshops, I sometimes start with a playful exercise called The Worst Possible Idea. Everyone writes down three terrible ideas, passes them on, and adds three more to someone else’s list. Laughter breaks the tension, and in the process, new ideas emerge. By removing the fear of being wrong, participants begin to imagine what they truly want to try.

For your own PD, ideation might mean listing every possible way you could explore your question: attending a webinar, shadowing a peer, creating your own materials, joining a community of practice, or even collaborating with learners. At this stage, nothing is off limits. Think expansively first. Refinement will come later.

Stage 4: Prototype — Acting Small, Learning Fast

Design Thinking values action over abstraction. A prototype is a small, testable version of an idea. Something you can try quickly and learn from immediately.

If your question was How might I give learners more voice in assessment?, your prototype could be a short end-of-unit feedback form or a five-minute discussion where learners co-create criteria. If your question involves moving into materials development, your prototype might be writing one worksheet or lesson plan to share with a colleague.

The aim is not perfection but progress. By working small, you reduce risk and open space for experimentation. You can then refine your approach based on what you learn, just as designers refine their products.

Stage 5: Reflect — Evaluating and Iterating

Finally, reflection closes the loop, though, in Design Thinking, endings are really beginnings for the next cycle. This is the moment to pause and ask:

• What worked well?
• What did I learn about myself?
• What surprised me?
• What’s one step I could take tomorrow to build on this?

Reflection in this sense is not a box to tick but a habit to cultivate. By viewing each attempt as a prototype rather than a final outcome, you free yourself from the fear of failure. Every experience, even the messy ones, becomes data for learning.

From Compliance to Creativity

What makes Design Thinking transformative is not the process itself but the mindset it fosters. It replaces a compliance-based model of PD with one grounded in creativity, agency, and empathy. It encourages teachers to see their careers as living designs, always evolving, always responsive to context, always centred on human experience.

In a field like ELT, where adaptability and innovation are essential, this approach reminds us that we, too, are learners. We can design our growth with the same imagination and care that we bring to our classrooms.

Design Thinking does not hand us answers. It gives us tools for asking better questions. And perhaps that is the truest form of professional development: not mastering a fixed body of knowledge, but cultivating the curiosity and courage to keep redesigning ourselves.

Further Reading:

Author

Dr Angelos Bollas  is based in Dublin, Ireland and works as Learning Experience Designer at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Previously, he worked as Lecturer and Assistant Professor of Social and Cultural Studies at Maynooth University and Dublin City University and as Academic Skills Tutor at University College Dublin and The University of Manchester. He has authored and edited academic books for Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Emerald, and Springer.