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21st Century Learning
Yong Zhao, author of “World Class Learners”, writes that we need
to prepare our students for the globalized world and that is not something the
traditional classroom is good at.
Zhao’s believes we need to cultivate independent thinkers who think
creatively and foster the engineering that is in all humans. (Zhao 2012) Engaging students in meaningful real
projects rich with technology and encouraging making and tinkering creates an
environment for continuous learning. By
implementing the power of the growth mindset and makerspaces we can prepares
our students to be the innovators, thinkers, problems solvers and creators
they will need to be to be successful.
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Growth Mindset |
Educating
students to fulfill their potential requires the teacher and education
environment to move from a “fixed mindset” and to adopt and build a “growth
mindset” environment. Carol Dweck,
author of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”, writes: “For twenty years, my research has shown that
the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.
It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you
accomplish the things you value.” (Popova)
The makerspace will help students realize their potential by implementing the growth mindset at the beginning and laying a foundation of growth that can continue beyond the walls of the space. The makerspace will help our students thrive on challenges and view failures as opportunities to stretch their abilities and grow. Feedback will be given that focuses on process. The makerspace will establish high expectations in a risk-tolerant learning zone. Students participating in the makerspace with the growth mindset will improve their intellectual outlook of themselves. Neuroscience research shows that we can grow our intelligence, in other words our minds are malleable. (Ferlazzo 2012) Dwerk writes “Let's give students learning tasks that tell them, "You can be as smart as you want to be.” (Dwerk 2010) Teaching students to realize their potential through the growth mindset means helping students develop through dedication and hard work. The makerspace will illustrate to student that hard work can be hard play. Albert Einstein said “Play is the highest form of research.” Plato said “Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.” Dr. Spock points out that “A child loves his play, not because it is easy, but because it is hard” (Martinez & Stager 2013). Using the growth mindset and allowing students time to tinker and play hard we can meet our Sitka School District mission of “educating our children to realize their potential and contribute in a connected global society“. |
Learners |
When pondering the
relationship between academic teaching and learning one might be quick to think
that it is a cause and effect relationship – a teacher teaches and in return
students learn. However what we really
need to do is teach our students how to learn, fail and learn some more.
According to traditional pedagogy learning is a direct result of having been taught. Teachers provide information to the students and students receive knowledge. In a traditional classroom (based on the industrial age) the teacher is the center of the classroom. The teacher asks the questions and has the answers. The classroom is focused around instructionism. The teacher provides direct instructions by teaching facts, modeling how to solve a problem then having students practice by following their instructions. The teacher gives feedback by correcting students when they are wrong. Learning is often based on repetition and rote learning. The emphasis is on basic skill. Curriculum begins with parts of the whole as opposed to a big idea. Curriculum is often content focused within disciplines. Classroom material consists largely of textbook and workbooks. Students often work on their own. The makerspace will be learner centered and focus on the process of learning. Learning is interactive and builds upon students’ prior knowledge. There is less emphasis on learning the facts but rather on learning the processes. The teacher’s role is to help students construct their own knowledge. Curriculum is presented whole and expands to parts. Big concepts and questions are emphasized. The space will consist of thinkers who can solve real problems and have emerging ideas about the world. Students’ interests and questions will be valued and help drive learning. There will be authentic problem solving with cross disciplinary learning. Critical thinking, ability to communicate and collaborate, self-organize and direct are just some of the skills enhanced in a makerspace. Students will making connection to why concepts matters. |
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Students
need to be 21st century thinkers.
Students need to learn thinking and problem-solving skills that can only
be learned through encountering challenges.
21st
Century learning requires students to think for themselves. They need to take control over their
learning. Students need to be the center of their education experience to
prepare themselves for their future.
Life is full of obstacles that can be turned into learning opportunities. In a makerspace students develop skills that help them face and overcome challenges. Technologically driven transformations have and will continue to take place in the workplace. Students will be asked to be creative and overcome challenges throughout their adult careers. Student will face one challenge after another. They will be required to have grit, tenacity and perseverance. Traditional academic teaching doesn’t prepare students for the challenges of today’s world and workforce. A high IQ and content knowledge is not enough for our students to be successful. Grit, tenacity and perseverance comes from the student. Allowing students to tinker and maker is one of the best methods to help students learn to figure things for themselves. A makerspace provides a great opportunity to tap into students’ intrinsic motivations. Students can build on their strengths and interests. Students can challenge themselves to work at the edge of their competence. Tinkering and making helps students to understand that learning involves struggle and practice. “Bruno Latour, an influential anthropologist, studied the way that scientists really do their work in his book, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society. (Latour, 1987) What he discovered was that tinkering is closer to the way real scientists, mathematicians an engineers solve problems. Tinker and making is not just an uniformed or immature way that science happens.” (Martinez, Stager 2013) Tinkering helps our students develop the thinking and problem solving skills they need to develop the grit, tenacity and perseverance to be successful. |
Constructionism |
Piaget described
constructivism as the process of students constructing their own systems of
knowing. The teacher focus is on the
individual process of internal construction.
Seymore Papert, father of the Maker Movement, expanded Piaget theory of
constructivism with his ideas of constructionism. Constructionism focuses on students producing
constructions that others can see and evaluate.
According to the American Institutes for Research, “Today, most researchers have come to understand child development and the learning process as articulated by the constructivists. However, this view has not been widely translated into practice” (Theories of Child Development and Learning). A makerspace is one way to change that. Students are natural constructionists and in a makerspace the child is at the center of the learning process. It is a place where students learn, invent, explore, teach, collaborate, and share. Seymour Papert`s idea of constructionism in relations to technology brings a lot of new ideas to the table. Papert`s 1972 paper “Teaching Children to be Mathematicians vs. Teaching About Mathematics” advocates for student to have real experiences rather than being taught just a subject. By applying Papert`s theory we can use gaming, programing, robotics, media making and much more to create mathematicians. Why not teach true computer science in primary. Why not teach students to code and program? Why not let students learn by making, tinkering and engineering? Every student is a maker. |
