Week_9Activity
Designing for Life Activity
In this activity, you will be considering how principles of design for life can be used to think about how to support young people to continue to develop their own lives. The stories here are short entries from Teen Ink, a series of publications created by young people to help them express their lives through their own stories.
Steps:
1. Read the story as assigned (Story 1, Story 2, Story 3, Story 4, Story 5, Story 6, Story 7)
2. Read the list of design principles for life.
3. Choose one principle and think about what it implies about what the author might do - how they might take action or change something about themselves, or build up a quality that helps them to continue toward the life that they choose for themselves. Imagine that the story continues into a next chapter, and extend the story by writing the opening 1-2 paragraphs of that next chapter. Imagine that as the author, you are writing in their voice, and the principle that you chose directly influences what happens next.
(Depending upon the story, your writing might take various angles, such as, "The next day, here's what I did..." or "From now on, I plan to...", or "I want my life to look this way from now on..." Think about what is at the "essence" of the story as written so far, and how the principle acts upon that quality).
4. Share your extended story with someone else, and explain your reasoning for the direction that you took with the story. Compare how your stories continued based on the design principles being used.
As time allows, repeat this process, this time with a different story and a different principle.
Optional: Design for Life Map
Develop a quick sketch of a map of your own life. Identify a few key events or situations in your past life, and show how they served as transitions to the point where you are now. Using the design principles for life again, consider future possibilities that become apparent when you have fully engaged with a given principle. Draw your map (it may look something like the template below). Discuss with others as time allows. (Additional question: what is needed to help young people move from principles to actions in designing their lives?).
