Lifelong Kindergarten
by
Mitchel
Resnick
You can purchase this through quite a few sites, and I certainly do not regret it! The website is here, so you can read more about him and his work. It also has a list of further reading which looks great!
At a
conference his nomination for the best invention of the last 1000 years was
kindergarten. Only 200 years ago it was very different from traditional
schooling. Froebel invented this approach knowing that the broadcast approach
wouldn't work for 5yr olds.
Kesnick
is convinced that "kindergarten-style learning is exactly what is needed
to help people of all ages develop the creative capacities needed to thrive in
today's rapidly changing society."
He
discusses Froebels approach and the troubling trend of more and more
kindergartens doing math worksheets and phonics becoming more like school. He
argues for the opposite that school should become like kindergarten.
He thinks
of the creative learning process in terms of a creative learning spiral pg 11
and discusses how this works.
One of
the recurring themes in the book is the Scratch community. He is a founder of Scratch and uses it often as an example of the type of learning he is talking
about.
The
development of Scratch has been fixed by the 4Ps of creative learning...
Projects
Passion
Peers
Play
Some
discussion around the difference between techno-enthusiasts and the
techno-skeptics. Is
interesting with him looking at pro and con of both, agreeing and disagreeing
with both as well and giving some interesting points to think about. I like
"people tend to forget that crayons and water colours were voted as
'advanced technologies' at some point in the past".
The next
chapters go into more depth on the 4Ps.
Projects
get a lot of information about the maker movement and he discusses the learning
that is had from making, in particular with Lego and logo, computer program for
Lego. This is a link to the foundation with lots of resources on as well. He also goes through how project based learning teaches students concepts
in meaningful contexts rather than in disconnected problems in more traditional
learning.
Passion
chapter talks a lot about Computer Clubhouse and the students who would go
there after school for hours and being engaged with learning and being
creative.
"passion
is the fuel that drives the immersion-reflection cycle"
This is
for all ages, from small projects to a thesis, if you are not passionate about
it, you won't persist and persevere through the challenges you come across.
There is
a section on gamification and badges, the effect of giving rewards being
negative when creativity is involved, the lure of reward or payment makes the
focus and doesn't allow for creativity, just an end product.
"if
your goal is to train someone to perform a specific task at a specific time,
then gamification can be an effective strategy... But if your goal is to help
people develop a life long learners, then different strategies are needed."
His views
on personalised learning are aimed at giving the learner choice and control over
their learning.
Mentions
Karen Brennan exploring the relationship between structure and learner agency.
Difference between an online Scratch community which has lots of agency and
little structure, they can create what they want, to school classrooms usually
with lots of structure and little student agency. She argues that the best
learning environment would be one that "employ structure in a way that
amplifies learner agency"
Peers - Design of
the space is important if you want peers to work together. Small clusters of
computers, tables to sit and discuss ideas and room to move around are
important as well as sample project ideas and the place for them to get
ideas from. Priority being that they choose who to work with on same passions.
A big
influence on Resnick s work is Seymour Papert's book Mindstorms which talks about
Brazilian samba schools where they go to create music and dance for festivals.
It is interesting to read how he talks this idea and has used it in the design
of Scratch. I read a sort of translation of Mindstorms which was quite interesting, you can read it here.
Openness
is talked about, sharing with others and remixing projects. This can also lead
to controversy and has done so in the Scratch environment where their policy
is that all projects are covered by a Creative Commons Attribution license
which means you can change anything as long as you give credit.
We have
been brought up in schools to always do our own work but that's not how the
scientific community works, they share ideas and build on what others have
done. We don't teach that.
The
Scratch community has a strong culture of care and has guidelines to encourage
this. They are told to be respectful, constructive, honest and help keep the site friendly. They unpack
these for all members.
There is
a good section on the lessons they have learnt around having this open and
sharing community with both the pitfalls and the successes.
There is
a section on teaching and how they train their mentors for the Codeclub. Often
teachers do one of two things, deliver information and instruction or leave
children to do it themselves, neither of which works.
Computer Clubhouses try and blur the lines between teaching and learning. They teach
their students to "serve as catalysts, consultants, connectors and
collaborators within the community, helping others to learn while continuing
their own learning."
Hole in the wall experiment by Sugata Mitra - wonder when learners need support and
guidance?
"
Play doesn't require open spaces or expensive toys; it requires a combination
of curiosity, imagination and experimentation "
Playfulness:
Playpen
vs playground
Playpen environment with limited options and a lack of risk and creative opportunities.
Playground
they have room to move. They can work with others and be creative. Lego is playpen
when following instructions to build something. Can be great to gain expertise
in building and learning new techniques but if you want creativity step by step
instructions then it should be the beginning of something, not the final destination.
He talks
about tinkering being between playing and making. People tinker around and make
mistakes and try new things. Making prototypes and testing and trying again. A
great way to develop creative thinking.
Dennie Wolf and Howard Gardner identified two main styles of play, patterners and
dramatists. Patterners love patterns and structure and will play with blocks
and puzzles, dramatists love the story and social interaction, more likely to
play with dolls and animals.
Wellesleyrobotic design studio more suited for dramatists, MIT robot design comp for
patterners. Need to have both styles. Some are planners , some tinkerers. Some
take more time than others. Need experience in all styles as some are more use
than others in various situations.
KenRobinson emphasises the importance of making mistakes. Coding is an easy place to
do that. Debugging helps that process and there is more than one way to get an
answer.
He talks
about how to assess creativity and how schools tend to focus on things they can
measure rather
than the things that will make a difference in kids lives.
Reggioclassroom always making learning visible.
Ten tips
for learners, based on a list made by students and then he has added comments:
- Start simple
- Work on things that you like
- If you have no clue what to do, fiddle around
- Don't be afraid to experiment -I like the comment on here that is useful to be able to follow instructions but if you only ever do that you will get stuck when you come across something new that has no instructions
- Find a friend to work with and share ideas
- It's ok to copy stuff to give you an idea
- Keep your ideas in a sketchbook
- Build, take apart, rebuild
- Lots of things can go wrong, stick with it
- Create your own learning tips
Ten tips
for parents and teachers
Based on
his creative spiral he gives 2 tips for each component.
I really
like the idea of extending project time where they can work for weeks on
projects in school.
Example
of sharing learning is Ricarose Roque's family creative learning initiative
Ten
tips for designers and developers who want to engage children in this sort of
learning. He talks about the difference from deliver to enable, low floors,
high ceilings and wide walls.
Good
final section is about how we can break the barriers to enable lifelong
kindergarten.
There is also a great further reading section.
Wow - I was very inspired by a lot of this and want to read more, and do more. Very keen to learn more about the Computer Clubhouse (there are 3 in New Zealand...) and read all the articles on the links I've put in. Lots to do....
