Integrating Design Thinking Elements Into Interpreter Training: A Pilot Study

Joanna Mirek

doi:10.18290/rh257310.5

Published : 2025-12-29

Vol. 73 No. 10 (2025)

Integrating Design Thinking Elements Into Interpreter Training: A Pilot Study

Joanna Mirek

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6929-8608

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh257310.5

Abstract

The article advocates the implementation of Design Thinking, a problem-solving methodology, in conference interpreter training. It presents a follow-up study to the introduction of “the Simultaneous Interpreting Portfolio”, a self-regulatory tool that encourages self-reflection in novice interpreters both during training and after graduation, aligning with the socio-constructivist approach to education. The pilot study involved integrating Design Thinking elements into “the SI Portfolio” as part of a simultaneous interpreting course (between Polish and English) for third-year BA students in English Studies at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. The findings suggest that implementing Design Thinking elements, even at the earliest stages of interpreter training, can foster the development of not only problem-solving skills but also self-reflection, the ability to provide and receive feedback, and collaborative learning, helping trainees to become self-directed learners.

Keywords:

design thinking, interpreter training, self-regulation, self-reflection, Simultaneous Interpreting Portfolio

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