13.2 Reading Takeaways

1. In the piece, 'Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering and Engineering in the Classroom' author Sylvia Lebow Martinez and Gary Stager, provide a history of makers who laid the foundation for the "Maker Movement" we currently see in schools and other learning institutions today. While contributions  from people such as Seymour Papert or Neil Gershenfeld were important, there seems to be a huge neglect on the authors part to mention any female contributors to this movement. Both education and making things by hand, has been historically recognized as female-based work. Yet according to this article, the Maker Movement seems to be made by men entirely. The fields of mathematics and engineering do not have a strong history of being inclusive for women. This makes me wonder if this "Maker Movement" has created maker spaces that are built to inspire and include all genders to make, play and invent or do they cater more to young males.

2.

I resonate with this line from 'Making is the Universal Infrastructure of of Production' by Daniel Charney. I have always found issues with hierarchy of making. The more educators emphasize the multiplicity of reasons to make, I think the better. This is because it opens up more points of access for students to create. They don't have to make things to "express their emotions" they can make stuff simply because it makes them think in a different way. This is my goal as an educator- help students find their own way and reason to make that is a sustainable practice that serves their needs/growth.

Reading Takeaways from Week 8

1. The resource list at the end of Chapter 4 in New Opportunities for Interest-Driven Arts Learning in a Digital Age is amazing. When I worked in an elementary school as a Art Integrator, teachers were highly interested in resources they could refer to, to integrate arts learning into their classrooms. I remember spending a lot of time researching and compiling my own list of resources. However, this list is totally comprehensive and covers a wide range of topics that any teacher could be interested in. I know going forward, as an arts educator, other teachers will be interested in similar resources. I am glad to have found this resource to share with others!

2. This article also brings up the DIY communities. I'm curious about the difference between DIY communities and the Maker Movement. This makes me think of the gendered language we use to describe creative thinking and making. What is the difference between DIY and Making? In my opinion, DIY has crafty connotations which is usually a term allocated to feminine art forms. This supports my feeling that Maker Spaces were designed to serve more male dominated forms of making. I am curious about what people in the field would say.