My Teaching Design Manifesto (written 2010) 

The principles and elements of design are fixed in its foundation by being the base that allows a designer to grow, building up aspects such as; creativity, awareness of personal style, use of color, visual composition, sustainability, and occupant-centered design or user experience.  I believe a student should have the opportunity to become familiar with these elements and discover where they can direct their talents and education.  A student typically comes to a classroom with preconceived notions of design by the influence of media on the culture.  A teacher should provide the tools and projects to direct a design student into developing a clear understanding of how they will want to apply their time, talents, and education to their future specialized profession.  The student should move from sub-conscious thinking to awareness in conscious design thinking to every essential solution in all environments.

In my profession, I have learned that once you know who you are and the core of your identity that this will provide additional ways to connect and relate to people and projects.  Every client and project is unique and yet has many common goals.  These goals and standards are essential for teaching designers as they prepare for their professional future.  This separates the amateurs from the professionals.

Your personal style and professional reputation develop in the classroom while preparing to enter the business world.  My goal as a professor would be to teach these design fundamentals as building blocks for creative and new ideas, having the students take responsibility for their work and understand how it will impact the client, the project, and eventually social environments for the optimum user experience.

The ultimate objective is for the design thinking student to achieve a place where they know who they are and where they want to be in their profession.  They graduate with confidence in their education and a healthy ambition for their professional future.