The document describes a creative zone called zLab at Southern Oregon University that aims to tackle complex problems in education through systems thinking, design ecologies, and cultural entrepreneurship. The zLab brings together the School of Education and partners from pre-K through higher education with the goals of improving teacher training, accelerating academic readiness, and boosting performance at all levels through collaborative experiences and distinctive programs.

1. a creative zone for tackling
education’s wicked problems
Sharon Dvora
MFA Collaborative Design
PNCA Candidate 2013

4. MFA in Collaborative Design
Design Ecologies, Systems Thinking, Cultural
Entrepreneurship

5. Southern
Oregon University
School of
Education
zLab

6. “Southern Oregon University
is a destination campus,
widely recognized for its
real-world, collaborative experiences,
distinctive programs,
welcoming & inclusive culture,
& engagement with the region.”

8. Pre-K—20
Raising the bar for teacher training
Accelerating the timeline for academic
readiness
Boosting performance outcomes at every
level

9. Sharon Dvora
MFA Collaborative Design
PNCA Candidate 2013

10. PRAXIS:
the process by which a theory or skill
is practiced, embodied & realized.

12. “Design is the ability to imagine
that-which-does-not-yet-exist,
to make it appear in concrete form as a new,
purposeful addition to the real world.”
Harold Nelson, The Design Way