Tinkering to connect with the environment - part 1
Tinkering and Making Space (La Cassiere Hall)
This is a two-part workshop. Participants are expected to take part in both parts.
Science educators recognise the importance of Environmental Education (EE) and how hard it might be to engage learners as deeply as one would like to. Coupling tinkering with EE might offer a way. Tinkering can facilitate a highly personalised pedagogy by using materials and exploring content knowledge from the learners’ close environment. An approach that supports learners to feel personally connected to their environmental context and take action. The use of readily available materials promotes equity and bridges learners’ interests and experiences in a broad range of possible learning outcomes. Integrating a tinkering mindset into EE encourages an aesthetic, emotional & material exchange of ideas. It aims at encouraging problem-solving and supporting new intellectual dispositions, identities, and relationships with the world with constant questioning on how "environmental" are we.
Outcomes: what will participants get from this session? Skills, knowledge, experience etc.
In this session we present tinkering activities in the context of environmental education. Participants will experience and reflect on content, pedagogy and approach, and share in open conversations how the elements of tinkering pedagogy can combine with the components of environmental education to develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues and gain problem solving skills. Also have a critical analysis of how "environmental" we are in our practices.
Session speakers
Senior project manager Education
I will share some tinkering activities that are developed, tested and run for children and young people within the context of environmental learning. With the aim of raising awareness about the use and reuse of materials and taking care of your own local environment.
After several months of experimentation, we developed and run a pedagogical activity about food waste and bioplastics in our maker space. I will present the co-creation process that we led with teachers and how this activity lends itself to several disciplinary connections, including sustainability. During the development of the programme, we questioned ourselves about producing unnecessary products and waste and how to become "critical" makers.
Founder and Director of AlElieh for Science Environment and Art Science and Maker Educator / consultant
AlElieh for Science Environment and Art
East Jerusalem
Palestinian Territory
In tinkering we use a lot of recycled material, specifically cardboard. We will explore the playfulness of cardboard as a recycled material fit to use in so many tinkering activities with focus on using cardboard to create educational tools. We will also tinker with different ways of layering cardboard to make ply boards for different uses.
Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico
I would like to suggest the use of different types of photovoltaic cells to raise awareness of their different efficiencies, the techniques used in their manufacture, and consequently the aftermath of their life cycle and disposal. No doubt some of us use them in some tinkering activities, like scribbling machines, but do we as educators and learners go beyond exploration, play, and in-depth engagement to reflect on the impact of such clean renewable energy on our environment?
