Our Approach to Toledo Tinkers: Through A Child's Eyes
The root of our programming is set in the Maker Mindset. The idea of the Maker Mindset is that students develop creative confidence and a sense of agency—that they have the ability to creatively solve problems on their own and with their peers.
This is conveyed through the teaching of eight key principles:
- Imagination: I come up with new ideas and possibilities
- Reflection: I think about my experiences and observations to help me learn and grow
- Perseverance: I keep trying even when something is harder than I expected it would be
- Skill Building: I practice new skills that will help me express my ideas
- Perspective Taking: I think about other people’s points of view and care about how they feel
- Teamwork: I work with others by sharing what I know, help when I can and asking for help when I need it
- Initiative: I take action to make my ideas come to life
- Exploration: I try new things and am curious about the world around me
In addition to the Maker Mindset, we hold critical ethnography at the heart of our teaching.
By rooting the practice of making and tinkering in the individual and social histories of the maker, value is placed on a learner’s cultural and learned experience. Providing learners with tools to look at their communities as an ethnographer has tremendous potential to develop and increase community pride and understanding, as well as individual agency and empowerment.
The Maker Mindset also provides the learner with the opportunity to see meaningful learning outside of the traditional confines of a classroom environment.
Imagination Station developed an approach to expand ethnography by incorporating the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). The SDGs were used as a tool to promote deep reflection and foster personal connections between STEAM activities and the student’s communities. By adopting an open-minded approach, Imagination Station allowed students to define ‘community’ in their own terms, acknowledging that this concept varies from person to person. This process encouraged students to imagine themselves as future STEAM professionals, bridging the gap between their current experiences and their future aspirations.
To facilitate this, students were assigned specific roles as learners, each paired with a distinctive learning environment style. These roles included:
- Reinforcer: Students encouraged their peers to participate and contribute to building a sense of inclusivity with the group.
- Demonstrator: Students guided their peers through challenges by demonstrating solutions and embracing an iterative learning process, which promoted learning through trial and error.
- Witness: Students observed and acknowledged one another’s efforts, fostering empathy and interconnectedness through shared experiences.
Integrating these roles—reinforcer, demonstrator, and witness—within the learning environment highlights the dynamic interplay between individual development, broader societal goals, and relationship building. The relationship formed between the facilitators and the students began with simple actions, such as greeting each student as they entered the room and extended to promoting collaboration and peer-to-peer support through the roles of the learners.
The Maker Club provides a space where students can develop both emotionally and socially while contributing to a culture of inclusivity that aligns with global objectives for sustainable development. This holistic approach supports academic growth and the development of skills essential for fostering equity and inclusion in their communities.
This approach was developed by Dr. Karie Peralta at the University of Toledo in partnership with Imagination Station team.
The Community-Specific Model for Maker Club
One of the initial goals of Toledo Tinkers was to create a program that would provide clear outcomes for participants, but still have the flexibility to adapt to the specific needs of the audience that the science center is working with at the time. One of the things that becomes clear to practitioners that engage in this type of outreach is that it is necessary to adapt to the culture of the organization or group you are working with. Since we only have twelve touchpoints with each group in Maker Club, it’s important to establish trust and open dialogue quickly. Listed below are seven areas of focus and suggested strategies to strengthen relationships with participants and staff at the host site.
This model was developed by Dr. Karie Peralta at the University of Toledo in partnership with Imagination Station team.
Integrate the Community Partner's Philosophy
- What do they value, and how can the program be grounded in these values?
- What type of system/format do they use to promote participation?
- Don't hesitate to suggest other modes to encourage participation.
- How can the site's incentive/reward system be used in Maker Club?
- How can current events at the site be incorporated into Maker Club activities?
Identify and Leverage Cultural-Brokers (Site Staff)
- Encourage site staff to participate in activities. Participants often get more motivated to participate if they are involved, and they also look to staff for positive reinforcement.
- Cultural brokers help to identify participants' students' needs (e.g. language, special needs, extra support, etc.)
- Cultural brokers model culturally responsive practices
- Cultural brokers can help identify rooms for maker spaces that have positive reputations.
- Cultural brokers support conflict management and resolution.
Adapt to the Site and Meet Participants Where They Are
- Acceptance
- Students come to the program with life struggles, family and school problems, and trauma-related issues.
- Validate their experiences and feelings and encourage students to use the STEM projects to cope with these struggles.
- Let site staff know of serious struggles
- Provide accommodations
- Use culturally responsive practices (E.g. Have high expectations for all participants, use multicultural examples, and ensure there are interpreters/translations.
- Use prompts to get to know the participants, what they know, what their strengths are, and how they feel about themselves, their school, and their communities. Provide participants the opportunity to consider the same topics (e.g. issues in their communities and schools) over multiple activities to allow their ideas to develop and be integrated into their projects.
- Identify program days/times/times of the year that will be conducive to participation.
- Create a break space with a different sensory STEM activity. This space is not necessarily an isolated space but could be depending on the sensory needs of the participants. It is important to learn who participants with special needs are from the beginning to provide the best support possible.
- Meet participants’ basic needs (e.g. allow snacks, breaks, etc.).
Create a Welcoming, Non-judgmental and Safe Environment
- Approach participants as equals, including in terms of STEM insight.
- Be accepting of participants’ different social identities and histories.
- Be aware of biases and interact by keeping them at bay.
- Give participants opportunities to document and share their experiences in different ways (e.g. photos, videos, writing, voice recording, writing on actual projects, etc.)
Promote Freedom, Self-Determination, and Leadership
- Allow students to hang out and hover in the makerspace. Their observation is a form of participation, and they often will eventually become involved. Participants “distracting” (not disrupting) others can be helpful when they stimulate ideas and participation.
- Encourage peer-to-peer instruction and engagement. This is done not based on age (e.g. younger siblings taught their older siblings) but on observations of who is making progress. Proactively and intentionally let participants know that they can take their projects in whatever direction that they would like.
Showcase and Celebrate Program and Participants
- Learn an appropriate way to highlight participants’ work in ways that the larger community can also appreciate it and provide feedback on it. Identifying participants’ work with their names or using photos with faces may not necessarily be appropriate.
- Highlight all stages of projects, not just accomplishments.
- Give recognition, and be generous with praise.
Invite Feedback from Participants and Community Partners
- Proactively seek out the guidance and expertise of community partners, families, and students.
- Ask and invite questions.
- Learn and build on community, family, and participant strengths.
- Listen to community ideas, needs, and concerns.
- Prioritize community feedback when modifying the program.
Toledo Tinkers is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Grant #MA-245768-OMS-20). Additionally, this work is supported by the Stranahan Foundation, General Motors Corporate Giving, KeyBank Foundation, Columbia Gas/NiSource Charitable Foundation, Toledo Rotary Club Foundation through the Greater Toledo Community Foundation, the Elsie and Harry Baumker Charitable Foundation and the Target Foundation.
