12544 OL: Making Spaces for Equity and Social Justice

Organizers: Katherine Moriwaki, Steve Ausbury, Armando Somoza
Presenters: Louisa Campbell, Hillary Kolos, Marc Lesser

In recent years “Making” has gained significant traction in the public eye, fueling excitement and interest from educators who see inherent potential in the “Maker Movement” for creating thriving project-based, interest-driven connected learning experiences. The promise of integrating multiple learning domains, across formal and informal settings, through engagement with STEM is tantalizing, as is the idea that with access to the right tools and latest developments in technology, deep engagement and constructionist learning amongst youth will naturally follow. Complicating this picture however, is the critique of Maker culture, which is still perceived as a playful domain of privilege, which omits and obscures the participation of non-dominant groups. This workshop examines the space around making through the lens of equity, access, and social justice, using the experiences of the organizers and their respective institutions in a learning network (Hive NYC) as a starting point for active design-based dialogue.

The workshop aims to target two main topics, involving participants in mapping outcomes and possibilities through hand-on prototyping:

– Re-imagining Narratives: How can the sense of technological possibility afforded by the Maker Movement be broadened to provide space for non-dominant youth to re-contextualize making as connected to their own communities and values? How could the narrative of making become more inclusive?

– Co-Design: How do we create equitable, accessible and inclusive spaces? What do they look like? How are community values negotiated, communicated and instantiated so they are visible, actionable, shared?

During the session the organizers and participants will kick-off the workshop by introducing how they are actively working towards bridging maker practices and tools into their work in ways that are helping to move the needle on issues of equity, outlining both the opportunities and problems that this presents. The discussion will quickly transition to hands-on design-exercises with the intent to capture actionable outcomes that can be shared out to the DML community.

Facilitators will include representatives from Hive NYC member organizations: Brooklyn College Community Partnership, DreamYard Project, gadgITERATION Program at Parsons, MOUSE, and Urban Arts Partnership.