“I am not a maker … because all of the actual change, the actual effects, are at the interface between me as an educator, my students, and the learning experiences I design for them. People have happily informed me that I am a maker … which is mistaking what I do (teaching) for what I’m actually trying to help elicit (learning). To characterize what I do as “making” is to mistake the methods—courses, workshops, editorials—for the effects. Or, worse, if you say that I “make” other people, you are diminishing their agency and role in sense-making, as if their learning is something I do to them.”
Chachra, Debbie. “Why I Am Not a Maker.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 23 Jan. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/01/why-i-am-not-a-maker/384767/.
To me, this quote provided very meaningful insight into the objective of educators. The idea that learning is performed by the student and the teacher only encourages and “elicits” it is a very novel concept to me. Especially in elementary and middle school — where it almost felt like my teachers would force vocabulary and formulas into my brain with rote memorization — it was hard to believe that I was the central driving force of my own education. This quote really puts everything into perspective: although the “interface” between me as a student and any educator is important, my education is mine and mine alone.
The use of this educational philosophy has somewhat corresponded with my success in school as well. When teachers would create assignments with strict directions and little freedom of expression, I found that the work would do little to deepen my knowledge of the subject. This was because, as the quote says, I wasn’t able to approach the topic from my own direction and understand it in my own way. In other words, my “agency and role in sense-making” were confined. As I grew older and began taking more challenging classes, I stopped receiving so much micromanagement. Learning stopped being something my teachers would “make” and instead became something I could “make” for myself. Largely because of this, I started to like (tolerate) school, specifically the homework, more and more. A great example of this was my Extended Essay, which I wrote as a part of IB (basically AP) towards the end of high school. Aside from a length requirement, I was virtually allowed to write about anything I wanted. I chose a topic I was interested in instead of one that would best “fit the rubric”. Although the paper was difficult to write, I was proud of how it turned out in the end and I (mostly) enjoyed writing it. I partially accredit my paper’s success to the teaching philosophy this quote illustrates.
This term, the methods I’m most excited to develop my skills in are 3D modeling and data analysis. In my opinion, 3D modeling can provide new ways of exploring artifacts of historical significance without physical limitations, and data analysis can reveal hidden correlations and patterns to aid research in any of the humanities.
