Design Thinking for a Future-Ready Child: Ms. Pargal’s Writing Featured in the NINNS Summer Newsletter
October 6, 2026
Strawberry Fields High School is proud to share that our PYP Coordinator, Ms. Deepshikha Pargal, has had her article,
“The future-ready child starts in the PYP: Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset through design thinking,” published in the
NINNS (North India and Nepal Network of Schools) Summer Newsletter.
The article takes on a question that sits at the heart of education today: how do we prepare children for a future we cannot
fully predict? Ms. Pargal looks at this through the lens of Design Thinking, not simply as a five-stage process, but as a
way of developing children who can observe carefully, understand perspectives, identify real needs, generate ideas and
turn those ideas into thoughtful action.
Through the stages of Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test, the article demonstrates how Design Thinking can
become a natural part of the PYP classroom. What began with a learning experience at the IB Global Conference was
brought into everyday practice through Circle Time and inquiry, allowing children to engage with authentic situations and
find meaningful ways to respond.
The classroom examples give the idea its real strength. Grade 2 students interacted with members of the school’s
housekeeping team to understand experiences they may otherwise have overlooked. Grade 5 students reflected on their
own health, screen-time and posture habits before designing awareness campaigns for their peers. In both instances, the
learning moved beyond identifying a problem. Children were encouraged to understand, question, imagine possibilities
and act with purpose.
It is this movement from understanding to action that gives Design Thinking its relevance within the PYP. Along the way,
children develop empathy, curiosity, creativity, collaboration, agency and problem-solving, qualities that also lie at the
heart of an entrepreneurial mindset.
As Ms. Pargal writes, “While technology may accelerate solutions, empathy gives those solutions purpose.” Within Design
Thinking, empathy becomes the starting point that helps ensure that ideas remain relevant, thoughtful and human-centred.
None of this is a coincidence. It reflects a way of thinking that Ms. Pargal has consistently worked to bring into the PYP
experience, where empathy becomes the starting point for deeper inquiry and Design Thinking gives children a way to
turn understanding into meaningful action. Over the years, she has helped shape learning experiences that encourage
children to observe closely, listen carefully, think creatively and respond with purpose. As a senior member of our PYP
team, her considered and consistent approach to teaching and learning continues to strengthen a culture where children
are encouraged not only to find solutions, but to understand why those solutions matter. This recognition brings welldeserved
visibility to work that has quietly been taking shape within our classrooms for years.
