With Natalie’s extensive research and leading knowledge in design thinking, it is now (more than ever before) evident of its importance in the classroom. Especially if our education system is to adapt, evolve and align with the future of work – it is a corner stone of the future of education. As teachers we have the responsibility of moulding our future generation’s mindset and skill sets – design thinking is crucial for our future in design and education.

Dr Natalie Wright is a Senior Lecturer in Interior Design in the QUT School of Design, and Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, with 18 years of international commercial interior design practice and more than 15 years of tertiary teaching experience. Since 2010, her community-engaged research has explored design thinking and design-led innovation in secondary and tertiary education contexts, as a framework for lifelong learning in the twenty-first century. Her PhD developed a Design-led Educational Innovation Model, tested through the first Australian informal design immersion program delivered in regional/rural high schools. In 2011, she was invited by Arts Queensland to assist in the development of the State Library of Queensland Asia Pacific Design Library Design Minds website http://designonline.org.au/education, which won a 2018 Good Design Australia Award. Current work is focused on building capacity for school teachers to teach design and utilise design thinking for learner-centred curriculum design and delivery.