There were three quotes that really spoke to me while reading Makeology. First, I felt like the most important idea is that Maker spaces give children more opportunities for explorative play. A quote from Dale Dougherty is used, “‘Think less about the products youth create and allow more time for this type of exploration, as will innovative ideas (p.25)’” (103). This idea is important because kids are asked more and more to be abstract thinkers without any hands on exploration. They are also asked to create a product rather than learn through trial and error. Maker education focuses on the iterative process which helps kids understand that the end result is not as important as the methods used to get there. The incorporation of experimentation can be really helpful to a child’s development as an innovative thinker—not to search the one right answer, but to create their own problems and find the best solutions. Another aspect discussed is, “Too often, tools are introduced with a focus on learning the technology itself (e.g., Intro to Laser Cutting), without suggesting how the tool can be used to make projects that connect with a learner’s interests (e.g., design your own lantern, make a cell phone case, or laser cut your food)” (105). When kids are able to focus on their own interests and apply the technology in ways that interest them, some amazing results occur. Kids learn best when they can make a direct connection to the subject matter reflecting its purpose within their own lives.
Lastly, I found it really interesting the author points out that Arts Education, because of testing and STEM disciplines, is getting pushed out or “…considered less important” (158). Acknowledging this reality is crucial to understanding the risk Art Education has, does and will face in schools. The author continues to explain that by using MaKey MaKey and other kits, “…arts and crafts can become intertwined with technology. This both provides an entry into more technical topics for youth who are more comfortable with arts and crafts and allows those who might not have seen themselves as creative makers to enter this design space”(158). Optimism aside, the methods and practice of Arts Education compared to Design Education, engineering and craft share similarities and also hold positive and enlightening differences. Arts Education has notoriously provided students the opportunities to think creatively and engage in meaningful hands-on activities—learning to imagine, invent and create—for the entirety of its existence as a mode of communication and expression within humanity. As Educators, it is important to have an awareness of the positive and negative ways technology influences the Arts and greater society. Awareness that Traditional Arts Education will constantly face discrimination in lieu of other “more important” STEM subject areas leaves me wary in the current culture of “integrating the arts with technology”. Maker education integrates technology, programming and design practices, expands kids practical skills in the current economy, prepares kids to be “digitally literate”, and creates producers of media (not just consumers). These positive qualities are not something to ignore; 21st century schools should look ahead to turning all STEM programs into maker spaces creating hands-on, problem posing educational environments. The processes and methods of creative and imaginative thinking, (currently used in Art Educational Methods) can be used within ALL subjects.
So, this massive movement of Maker Education pushes Arts Education into a pivotal, defining moment: will traditional Art Education face the same discrimination it has in the past? If schools rely so deeply on STEM and standardized testing, will the push for integration of technology in art leave traditional making methods out of classrooms? Is pushing for Arts Education to integrate STEM the current generational schema to devalue our traditional cultural making and creativity; Merge Art into Technology and engineering so it disappears? Or, is it expanding upon current culture changes? These are all questions I face when I look towards the Maker Movement and the integration of Arts into STEM programs.
Peppler, Kylie, Erica Rosenfeld Halverson, and Yasmin B. Kafai. Makeology: makers as learners. Vol. 2. Place of publication not identified: Routledge, 2016. Web.
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