What can a Philadelphia rowhome tell us about culture? Quite a lot, as 48 School District of Philadelphia world language teachers discovered during a hands-on workshop hosted by DesignPhiladelphia’s Design Education team.

On Friday, October 9, teachers gathered at Furness High School for “Design in All of Us,” a professional development workshop exploring the connections between language, culture, and the built environment. Working in teams, teachers were challenged to design their own Philadelphia rowhome, drawing inspiration from the world language and culture they teach. Along the way, they explored how architecture and public spaces reflect the history, values, materials, and traditions of communities around the world.

The activity gave language teachers a chance to share ideas and experience a new way to bring cultural learning into their classrooms. Through hands-on design, participants explored how students can build language skills while developing curiosity about the places and people around them.

The workshop was led by Design Education’s coaching team, bringing together perspectives from architecture, design, and language education:

Elsa De Leon, Spanish and Italian | Architect, MGA
Muhammet Arslan, Turkish | Architect, HDR
Liza Niles, Spanish | Manager of DE Programs and Textile Designer

By connecting world language instruction with design, the workshop showed how creative activities can make language learning more engaging and give students new ways to explore cultures beyond the classroom.