Looking at what we have done and discussions created around implementing a maker pedagogy into a classroom has triggered myself to think of how I can implement the curriculum through a maker lens.  To be honest I am still in the process of figuring how to answer this question but the experiences gained in this class so far has given me the first stepping stone towards this inquiry.  I have had great experiences and can see myself applying these experiences in my own practice such as incorporating an activity for a hook like the squishy circuit, or slowmations as a tool for formative assessments.  Especially after reading Maker Pedagogy and Science Teacher Education by Bullock and Sator (2015), I started to get excited about the idea of having a maker space in the classroom.  I formed an image in my head that a maker space was an open free space where students got access to resources where they can explore and discover, and create their own representation of their knowledge.  However, this image created a gap of reality vs. fantasy, the desire of having this free maker space, and the reality of the limitation of what one can make in a limited space time and resources.  For example, if we ask students to make squishy circuits and are telling students what to make and what tools to use to make it, are we then really providing students with the opportunity to become makers?  I want to be able to take it a step further and use these activities as a scaffold and not necessarily the end product.  I want students to take these initial experiences of making and turn it into their own personal inquiry where students go from “I now know I can do this with a squishy circuit and therefore have a backbone with knowing how a circuit works.  Now can I create something bigger knowing what I know”.  In addition, I want students to be able make connections and representations of what they made into knowledge they gained.  For example, linking how a squishy circuit works to the process of photosynthesis.  What does the battery represent, the wires, the idea of the lights turning on?  If the lights don’t turn on what in the process of photosynthesis could be preventing it?  One of the big ideas that stood out for me regarding the maker movement is the alternative way for students to gain knowledge.  I want to create an environment where students create connection and gain knowledge through making because I do believe that there is knowledge that can’t be gained just by reading or by listening but can be gained by making.  I love the idea that making provides the students with the opportunity to create something that represents their own knowledge rather than reproducing what the teacher taught or what a textbook says.  

​

        Many of the challenges I anticipate facing as a new teacher involves both personal related barriers and contextual related barriers.  Personal related barriers include the lack of knowledge or experience and perceived competence.  In fact, I have some negative experiences with technology and failing a first year introductory to a computer science course.  However, I do identify myself as a maker, I enjoy creating.  One of the values that a maker possess is the idea of sustainability, solving problems or meeting your needs by producing rather than purchasing.  This is one of the values that I try to live by.  If I want a dog bed instead of purchasing I would go on craigslist and look through free stuff or second hand items being sold, look for parts that I can break down and build into what I want. This is a value that I would want to pass on my students, how can we as individuals reduce waste and take care of our planet through a maker mindset which can be integrated in many of the science content in the BC curriculum such as ecology or environmental science.  To overcome this personal related barrier, it is important to keep in mind that we should continue to commit to a lifelong and life wide learning and that we are not keepers of all knowledge.  Secondly, having more opportunities to get ideas on the different ways to use technology to supplement learning such as going into workshops, reading articles, and exploring programs such as scratch.  In the article Bringing Inquiry-Based Learning into Your Classroom, MacKenzie (2016) talks about the different types of student inquiry.  There is a structured inquiry where the teacher leads and students follow one inquiry as a class.  There is a controlled inquiry where the teacher chooses the topic and resources.  There is a guided inquiry where the teacher chooses the topic and question but the students are the designers, and finally the free inquiry where students have all the autonomy.  I can see all these types of inquiry as a tool for myself as the teacher to implement a maker movement into a classroom.  Initially starting at “structured making” where the scaffolding of knowledge would be created, and eventually move our way up to “free making”.  Lastly, there are also contextual related barriers where there may already be a belief that a maker space has already been established and are being fulfilled in clubs and electives that schools already offer through classes such as textiles, woodworks, electronics, computer.  Therefore, many may already believe that there is no need to embed it into your own classroom.  Especially as a new teacher I would be scared to go against the waves and instead want to “fit in the expectation” (Bullock, 2013). 

 

        For future consideration, I would need continual growth and develop in understanding what the role of making is to me, in my classroom, and to my students.  Is the role of making a tool to assess students, is it to increase students’ self-efficacy in their abilities to create, explore, solve-problems, or is it so that students are provided the opportunities to develop their personal and social skills.  It is then when understanding what our outcomes or intentions are where we can begin to experiment and become a maker in curriculum in a meaningful way that connects to our individual teacher identity and at the same time implement activities that aligns with our learning goals and learning intentions. 

 

Bullock, S.M. (2013). Learning to Teach and the False Apprenticeship: Emotion and Identity Development During the Field Experience Placement. Advances in Research on Teaching, 18, 119-140

Bullock, S.M., & Sator, A. J.  (2015). Maker Pedagogy and Science Teacher Education. Journal of Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 13(1), 60-87.

MacKenzie, T. (2016). Bringing Inquiry-Based Learning into Your Classroom: A four step approach to using a powerful model that increases student agency in learning. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-inquiry-based-learning-into-your-class-trevor-mackenzie