Maker Ed recognizes that traditional models of teaching are rooted in systems of inequity that plague schooling and learning outcomes. These models – rooted in racism, carceral logic, and white supremacy – prioritize compliance, assimilation, and academic knowledge acquisition that neglects the rich histories and past experience of learners from traditionally marginalized communities, particularly those that are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
Registration closes on Wednesday, June 15th.
REGISTER HERE
(Slide Scale Rates and Reduced Free Request Form available)
In this six week virtual course, we will explore how maker-centered learning can be a tool to disrupt traditional models of teaching and learning. Through a focus on making that prioritizes process and connection, we can create a cultural shift in education that centers rehumanizing, anti-racist, and culturally relevant practices.
Throughout this course, we’ll ask you to do the same things you ask of your students:
Bring yourselves to the work with a willingness to learn, to make mistakes, and to create with joy.
We’ll blend together making exercises, reflection time, collaboration, and peer feedback in order for you to design specially tailored activities, projects, and lesson plans that are best suited for your unique learning space.
By adopting a pedagogy of maker-centered learning, we can design learning experiences that promote agency, equity, joy, and community-building. Whether in or out of school, these learning experiences are where we recognize people as makers who are full of inherent brilliance and genius. These spaces are filled with the freedom to explore, connect, create, and experience joy. Through deep learning, we will cultivate the conditions to critique unjust systems and reimagine a more liberatory future.
We will be drawing our lesson designs and reflections from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s HILL model in Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, which is rooted in equity and can be integrated across learning spaces and content areas.
What To Expect
- Develop a pedagogical understanding of culturally responsive teaching and maker-centered learning rooted in identity, equity, justice, and liberation through the lens of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Cultivating Genius HILL model.
- Integrate maker-centered learning into your practice by co-creating concrete tools, strategies and adapting lesson plans that you can implement in your learning spaces.
- Connect with other educators to explore, challenge, and learn together while deepening our collective understandings of liberation and making.
- Attend to our own genius, joy, healing, and connection!
Who Is This Session For?
- Educators who works directly with youth in any capacity — in schools, libraries, museums, after school programs, makerspaces, and other educational settings.
- Those that want to grow their creative confidence in designing and facilitating liberatory, equitable learning experiences for youth — experiences that are learner-driven, joy filled, center making and creating, and are culturally & historically responsive to youth’s identities & histories, especially those from marginalized and underrepresented communities.
- Those that have previous interest or experience talking about equity in their classroom or workspace and are looking to deepen their understanding and put it into action.
- Those that are looking to join a community of educators where you can learn, grow, and celebrate each other!
Course Format
- Online Course: You will have access to an online platform with all pre-session work, links, activities, resources, and asynchronous opportunities to discuss and respond to other participants.
- Virtual Workshops: In addition to the online course, there will be four facilitated workshop sessions to connect, make, reflect, and discuss with other participants. All sessions will be held on Saturdays from 9-11 am PT on Zoom.
All workshop sessions are immersive and participatory, blending maker experiences, group discussion and reflection time, as well as prioritizing community, connection, screen and body breaks, and accessibility. We encourage full participation for the duration of the course in order to build and maintain a supportive learning community together.
Course Schedule
Download the detailed course schedule
This six week virtual course runs from June 18 – July 23, 2022. It includes four workshop sessions held on Saturdays from 9-11 am PT on Zoom. The schedule & dates are as follows:
- Week 1: Liberatory Teaching and Learning through Making
- Workshop to be held on June 18
- Week 2: Strategies for Designing a Culturally Responsive Learning Space
- Workshop to be held on June 25
- Week 3: Centering Learner Voices, Experiences, and Genius
- Week 4: Adapting and creating maker-centered learning spaces
- Week 5: Reshaping and Redesigning lesson plans for your learning space
- Workshop to be held on July 16
- Week 6: Cultivating Genius and Joy, ahead and beyond
- Workshop to be held on July 23
Registration closes on Wednesday, June 15th.
