CAINe enABLEd a Maker Movement

School Community sharing in cardboard construction activity.
Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Everybody loves a sequel, right?
Well this post, CAINe enABLEd a Maker Movement is the sequel to the previous post, And I was Proud! - (In blogging terms, anyway!)
I highly recommend reading and viewing my previous post so that you can better understand this next discussion. 


Nirvan Mullick (2012) stumbled upon Caine's cardboard arcade, he spread the word via social media and made a movie of the process. What started out as Caine's solo world has spread and inspired others to create, make and invent for themselves. The benefits for Caine have been improvements in his work at school, increased confidence and  improvements to his stuttering problem. However above all he has been acknowledged as a real learner, inventor and creator.

Caine's story reveals the power of tapping into children's creativity. Ken Robinson (2012) states that the real challenge for education is to to tap into children's creativity and provide challenges for them because in this way their learning is more powerful and transformative. Martinez (2014) says that learning is most powerful when the learner is engaged in a constructionist activity that is relevant to them and is able to be shared with a real audience. The learner needs to be able to draw upon everything they know and the skills they have to create something new for rich and relevant learning to occur. The ethos of the maker movement enables transformative learning to occur. Martinez (2014) asserts that schools lose relevancy when they are disconnected to the world of their students.

When you watch the second movie below, showing the growth of Caine's arcade into a global movement of creativity and invention, you will see how the power of a small gesture can change a life. Out of Mullick's initiative the Imagination Foundation was born; to find, fund and foster creativity and entrepreneurship in children. From there it has spread to other schools around the world, where the power of imagination is harnessed. Watch!



So where to from here?

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a couple of days ago that a colleague of mine from another school, was launching a Kids Matter day at her school with a cardboard building activity. In her email, Colleague X said (2014), "Kids are building stuff out of cardboard. I have never seen so much cardboard! (boxes)" After a few more email exchanges I realised that the cardboard activity WAS their participation in the Global Cardboard Challenge, set up by the Imagination Foundation. They had even called the activity "Caine's Arcade!"

Colleague X said (2014), "We heard about Caine's Arcade. He is a 9 year old boy who built a whole Games Arcade from boxes and other bits and pieces. We became like Caine. We planned and discussed and collaborated and constructed. We had ideas to share and problems to solve. By working as a team we were able to construct a great collection of unusual, interesting and fun games. Best of all was all the fun we had along the way. Out teachers did not hear any arguments. Everyone was pulling together". The students felt empowered because their ideas and skills were validated by other students and the school community. It had a positive effect on how the students felt about themselves as learners. Although a 'one-off' activity, the value of students actively creating and problem-solving together was evident and would impact on curriculum planning in the future (See the following photos).

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Image Source: From Colleague X at school participating in Caine's Arcade

Is this just another fad?

Is this just another band wagon to jump upon? I sincerely hope not, but it will be if we let it. I think, as educators, that we need to approach a movement like this always asking ourselves 'how will this benefit the learners in my class?' and 'how does this pedagogy enhance learning?' It should not simply be a matter of letting the kids loose with boxes to go and make something or supplying software for them to freely create without purpose. Students will need guidelines and challenges and the curriculum still needs to be addressed! Martinez (2014) believes that when you combine the theory of how children learn best with the ideals of the maker classroom then you have the optimal environment for children to learn and be assets to themselves, their communities and then the world (Just look at Caine!). She adds that the challenge for us as teachers is to create an 'academically worthy process' for the making to occur within.

If you are still interested in the maker movement I have set up a MakerSpaces page on this blog where you can learn more and find resources to help you get started.


References

Colleague X, (2014) Interviewed on 13 October, 2014.

Imagination Foundation. (2012). Caine's Arcade 2: From a Movie to a Movement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul9c-4dX4Hk

Martinez, S. (2014). The Maker Movement: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants to Own the Future. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/maker-movement-shoulders-of-giants-sylvia-martinez

Mullick, N. (2012) Caine's Arcade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U