Enhancing Teaching and Learning Through Design Thinking: Opportunities and Challenges for Educational Innovation

Design thinking (DT) is increasingly emerging as an effective approach to promote innovation in educational contexts. This article, starting from an overview of the literature reviews published in the last decade, aims to outline the main opportunities and challenges associated with the application of DT in both teaching practice and teachers’ professional development. The adoption of DT can contribute to improving learning experiences in all disciplines, particularly in STEM fields, by fostering more inclusive, reflective and student-centered teaching approaches. In teacher education, DT encourages a vision of the educator as a designer of the learning experience, capable of addressing educational complexities through empathy, creative experimentation and iterative problem solving. However, the integration of design thinking in school and training contexts is not without its criticalities: it requires adequate institutional support, effective scaffolding strategies and a profound change in teaching practice. Based on the analysis of the available evidence, the paper identifies the main potential and challenges related to this approach, offering useful indications.