The Maker Movement in English Language Schools

The Maker Movement in English Language Schools

I have been asking many people the very same question, and the answers share something in common. Can you guess what the question is?

Can you describe an activity you really enjoyed at school?

I have been asking many people the very same question, and the answers share something in common. Can you guess what the question is?

  • My oldest daughter told me it was the day she built a feudal castle;
  • Antonio, the IT guy at school, told me about the day he built a functional mini hydropower plant with leds.
  • My husband told me about wood work projects.
  • I remember making ‘brigadeiros’ for a school party.

Coincidences? I do not think so… Human being are curious beings, and learn much better when genuinely engaged.  The maker movement inspires people to think like scientists and engineers, explore, tinker and collaborate to find solutions to local problems. Many schools in the USA already work with the STEAM model, but here in Brazil it is very new. It`s easy to get enthusiastic about the making in classrooms, but how to transfer all that to our educational system, how to organize great after school programs, and most important, how to let students explore and practice curiosity?

“I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it’s science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be makers of things, not just consumers of things.” 
President Obama on June 17, 2014
As an educator, I feel happy to see what a child maker can do, check out Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show .  I am fascinated with the notion of making at school, and there are interesting reasons for it. But, how about English language schools? Is there any connection?
English teaching is about authentic communication, personalisation of language and empowerment. It is also about teaching American culture, and teaching about cultural differences, respect and intercultural awareness. As I see it, Bi-national centers have the perfect environment for adopting the maker movement within their facilities since they are committed to best teaching practices and promoting relevant experiences related to what the American culture is. Just as traditional libraries are evolving into dynamic community spaces, our American Spaces must be dynamic as well, and we can motivate experiential learning everywhere, and hack the spaces around school to estimulate critical thinking and offer collaborative learning spaces. However, any wise teacher at any English school will ask you some of the following questions whenever you engage in a conversation about the maker movement and English language teaching.

How do maker activities relate to the more linguistic aspect of English teaching? We use the term maker movement to include a massive range of activities. What is the range of activities and possibilities for bi-national centers? What are the outcomes we expect from the maker movement at school? What do we expect kids to learn and be able to do? Where do we include maker activities in a bi-national center teaching environment? Conversation classes advanced students? Conversation clubs at resource centers? Makerspaces? Everywhere?

The answers to these questions are yet to be fully answered. However, anyone who sees firsthand the excitement of the students whenever they engage in maker activities will feel enthusiastic and might redesign classes, design a program for teaching coding in  resource centers, or just install a maker shelf.

Sarah - Maker, 15/Jul/2024

Voltar