A new classroom spaceThis year I was very fortunate to be tasked with furnishing a new classroom in our school. The timing could not have been more perfect as I explored the importance of space and design in Reggio inspired makerspaces. I used my background in Reggio Emilia to purposefully design different learning areas that invited exploration and collaboration while also taking into account aesthetic use of colour and space to maximize learning. Some modifications I made included:
| |
At the very beginning.....
Currently in British Columbia, Canada we are undergoing a huge shift in our educational curriculum away from rigid, outcomes based learning to a more fluid, big ideas, core competency based approach. Personalizing education for our students has become a priority in our province and has wide-spread implications for teachers at all grade levels. While conducting my research for my literature review I found myself constantly examining and reflecting on my own practice and grade 3 classroom environment. The papers I read, and schools I studied were so inspirational that I wanted to immediately implement changes. Creating a Reggio inspired makerspace in my own school is my ultimate goal. However, constraints such as lack of space and timetabling issues immediately became apparent. We do not have any extra classroom space in my current school and while the administration are very forward thinking, the value in creating an innovative makerspace is still a new idea.I immediately saw that I would need to start small and gradually build up to my grand vision of a K-5 innovation space that incorporates aspects of both the Reggio Emilia approach and the Maker philosophy. I began looking for a way to bring a focus on the 21st century competencies through constructivist/constructionist experiences within my own classroom to my students on a regular basis. I was also conscious of the fact that as a university prep school, many parents in my school still need to be reassured about the value of ‘play’ and tinkering in higher level grades. I stumbled upon the ‘Genius Hour’ idea- time set aside in class for students to inquire into a personal passion or an area of interest. It originated from a work practice developed at search-engine giant, Google. Google allows its engineers to spend 20% of their time to working on a
pet project of their choosing. The idea is very simple; allow people to work on something that interests them, and productivity increases. I began to see that a Genius Hour could be the perfect vehicle to introduce a modified Reggio-inspired makerspace. Within a Genius Hour model students take ownership of their own learning and develop knowledge through a passion project that they are intrinsically interested in and are in charge of designing and modifying. Genius Hour is designed to spark curiosity and engage students in design thinking- through questioning, planning, creating and improving. I immediately saw parallels between the constructivist Reggio inspired approach that encourages the joy of learning and the constructivist maker movement that provides opportunities for learners to tinker, experiment, iterate and collaborate in a personalized context. I approached my administration over the summer about piloting a program with my teaching partner in grade 3 that would draw upon the resources of our school technology integrator, program specialist and librarian to provide a consistent time for students to explore their passions.