JusticexDesign classroom tools

JxD tools support learners and teachers to apply the practices and principles of the JxD framework


The tools are free and downloadable and include suggested practices and blog posts sharing stories of educators using the tools.

All JusticexDesign tools are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND). This license allows users to share this work with others using the appropriate referencing, but it cannot be used commercially and it cannot be changed.

People, Systems, Power, Participation_0.pdf

People, Systems, Power, Participation

People, Systems, Power, Participation is a protocol for looking critically at content and developing a sensitivity to the role(s) of power and participation in the design of objects and systems.

Messages, Choices, Impacts.pdf

Messages, Choices, Impacts

Messages, Choices, Impacts (Or Messages, Choices, Shifts) is a Thinking Routine for supporting learners to develop a critical sensitivity to design and to reflect on how design choices in content, objects, and systems impact them and help to express certain messages. Learn about how an educator uses this routine with her third and fourth grade students.

Power, Possibilities, Me.pdf

Power, Possibilities, Me

Power, Possibilities, Me is a protocol for supporting students to consider how forces of power and oppression might be embedded in the design of content, objects, and systems—and to reflect on their own powers in relation to content, object, and systems. Read about one teacher's exploration of power with her fifth grade students here.

Voice, Choice, and Mending_final.pdf

Voice, Choice, and Mending

Voice, Choice, and Mending is a tool for supporting learners to make legacy visible by engaging them in Critical Historical Mending (CHM). CHM is the practice of looking closely at legacy and illuminating historical truths that are often untold or under-told. Voice, Choice, and Mending positions the learner as mender/maker of a mend. The tool is accompanied by a second version, titled Voice, Choice, and Mender in which learners look closely at the work of another mender and explore the complexities of an already mended artifact. Read about Voice, Choice, and Mending in practice.


The development of this set of tools was led by Jaime Chao Mignano, with thought partnership from JxD director Sheya and educators at the Washington International School.

Critical Sensitivity to Design Questions.pdf

Critical Sensitivity to Design Questions

This is a set of questions for students and educators that support critical inquiry and awareness when looking closely at, interacting with, and exploring the complexity of human-designed objects and systems.

Making Memory.pdf

Making Memory

Making Memory is a JusticexDesign Making Routine that encourages students to develop awareness around the impact of design choices on remembering and memory.

Take Apart Racism.pdf

Lesson Plan: Take Apart Racism

This lesson plan explores how you can use a tangible object as a metaphor for looking closely and exploring the complexity of a system and in particular, systems of power and oppression.

This tool was developed by Jaime Chao Mignano and Mark Perkins in collaboration with Agency by Design's Making Across the Curriculum initiative. It is featured here because of its resonance with the JusticexDesign framework. Read more about this tool on the Agency by Design website.

Voice and Choice_1.pdf

Voice and Choice

Voice and Choice is a protocol for looking critically at content, considering perspectives and representation, and then redesigning or reimagining that content from one's own perspective. It is a great resource for inviting students to consider multiple perspectives, including those missing or quieted, in stories, artworks, media, and systems.

This tool, also available in Spanish, was developed by Agency by Design's Making Across the Curriculum initiative. It is featured here because of its resonance with the JusticexDesign framework. Learn more about this tool on the Agency by Design website.

Voice and Choice Learner Workbook.pdf

Voice and Choice Learner Workbook

Voice and Choice is a protocol for looking critically at content, considering perspectives and representation, and then redesigning or reimagining that content from one's own perspective. It is a great resource for inviting students to consider multiple perspectives, including those missing or quieted, in stories, artworks, media, and systems.

This tool, also available in Spanish, was developed by Julie Rains in collaboration with Agency by Design's Making Across the Curriculum initiative. It is featured here because of its resonance with the JusticexDesign framework. Learn more about this tool on the Agency by Design website.