After a great couple of weeks immersed in different learning experiences and conversations, I’m taking a step back. I’m left with thoughts and remnants of moments rolling around in my head. People who are asking for help. They’re leading a charge at their schools for a makerspace, and some of them got that role without asking. It’s clear, schools are clambering to get a space in their school where creativity is the focus.
A space where kids can go do stuff.
A space where they put a 3d printer.
A space that looks fun and different.
A space where this “thing” called making can happen.
But how is this space going to change learning across curriculums? A colorful room stocked with stuff is just that… stuff. We’d never expect a smoother ride from a car that was freshly painted. Internally, inside that car, we’d need to open it up and make improvements.
Are we willing to open up what we’re doing in our schools? Are we willing to push back against the test score monster that pushes down on us with stifling pressure to earn points? Are we willing to make creating, designing, and making possible throughout our schools? We have to be. The alternative? I’m not willing to accept a future like that. We can’t be.
Our kids, every last kid in our country, deserves the very best. A colorful room that looks like a children’s museum and more importantly, a curriculum that IS the real world and gets them fired up for learning. And more importantly, fired up for life.
