The New Fixation: Makers and Making

Some new words circulating in schools and parts of the intelligentsia are the terms "maker movement," and descriptions of places for the thing: "maker spaces." Much is swirling within the Neti!en communit" on the trend. #ssentiall", the"$re places to Make stuff with expert people to give direction in the skills of Making. This segment of societ" has reali!ed the wonder and %o" in making, contrasting the active voice to the passive voice of merel" consuming& it incorporates the entire sensor" network into the ph"sical expression of real things sprouted whole from one$s imagination. 'etting one$s hands involved with crafting from actual materials, producing a product as an extension of an idea from the world of creative fanc" ama!es& something imager"()ased protruding into the real world of o)%ects manipulated )" hands with tools. The old model of consumerism in the new era of sustaina)ilit" has lost its polish(( we sit atop the p"ramid of %unk we$ve ac*uired and reali!e the empt" space unfilled )" the affluent lifest"le. +e look at the education we press upon our children and find little hope that it will produce a thing e*uivalent to what we have ac*uired. +e long for connection to something real, things of *ualit" we can hold in our hands that will remind us of permanence when we ourselves are

not. That the )od" has the capa)ilit" to produce things of permanence in the all(pervasive ,ge of -nformation is a revelation, opening a vista of alternative explanations for the world we live in. To take the thing one has made with ones$ own hands and revel in the hand(e"e()rain(cognitive )undle that$s produced it promotes an interior satisfaction, an esteem that cannot )e dispersed )" the vagaries of the merel" digital or informational. For the educator who has all their career devoted him or herself to intellectual pursuits, there$s )een a recent recognition of the value in taking ideas a)out things and making the actual things& what$s more, students have a fascination with making things, keeping them interested in education. . -t$s curious and fascinating to educators that so much creative energ", so much enthusiasm can )e expressed in Making. The wonder, the revelation in a finished final product springing from a visuali!ation with seemingl" no connection to the world of realia is an innovative thought for those having la)ored long as information workers in the skills of connectivit" and communication. The gushing praise from the intelligentsia, people cosseted within words and language who don$t get out much into the world of fa)ricators and manufacturers and doers of deeds resulting in the fashioning of things is %arring when laid against the )ackground machiner" of our current technological world. The iron" is vast: +e the educators decided some decades

ago these Making /laces, these Maker(made Things were unimportant, atavistic even, while focusing our efforts and mone" and intellectual firepower on merel" information, disposing of the Maker Spaces, )elieving that other things, like 0ollege For ,ll, The -nformation #conom" staffed )" -nformation +orkers would )etter invest our time and resources and close the ,chievement 'ap and the /overt" 'ap. +e once had whole sections of the campus set aside for Makers. +e once trained teachers in the communication of these Making skills. +e once had )udgets and )uildings and classrooms full of Making e*uipment. 1ow much of this Maker gear have we un)olted from the classroom floor and parked on the school district warehouse loading dock to rust, turning the former Maker Spaces into wrestling g"ms and dance studios and gourmet kitchens and 2lack(2ox theaters3 +e$re now dumpster diving for what we$ve thrown awa", reali!ing the spaces and the gear and the skills that teach the skills are what keep kids interested in education and provide traction in the slipper" world outside the pu)lic school fence line. 4 From a cursor" inspection, the )iosphere and econom" of education reveals missing elements that once prepared kids for the world of work, and we$re tr"ing to get )ack something we$ve )egun to recogni!e we need. There$s the sense of an incomplete world made of merel" language and s"m)ols and digital renderings, of words in space with little connectivit" to the real world of the touch and the feel of o)%ects hand( crafted. 5n a pro)a)l" unconscious level we$ve reali!ed we

need this aspect of the world we$ve disposed of )ecause we see the gap )etween rich and poor from lack of skills providing access to the world of work directl" from the high school commencement stage. 2elieving the Makers were of the lower classes where work with the hands was one step a)ove povert", the places of Making were discredited and )ulldo!ed into the mulch(pile fertili!ing the new )iosphere of education. 2ut the NeoMaker world is occupied )" the people and the children of people with means. -t$s an extension of the intellectual, not a place for access to something else. There$s a recognition that the skills learned in these Maker Spaces could )e negotiated into %o) skills, )ut the intent is not for training for the world of work. 6 -t$s more of an entertainment sideshow for those with means to reali!e with materials their Macg"ver visions. The connection )etween Making and 7ocation, how teaching for 7ocation has )een discredited, )ut Making from the perspective of the intelligentsia connotes honor is a %arring circumlocution. There$s no difference in the spaces new and those old that did the same things. There is no distinction )etween skills& the" were from then to now identical and indistinguisha)le, using the same imagination, conceptuali!ing, skills, craft, tools, e*uipment for the same outcomes. The laser cutters, the 0N0 routers and mills, the plastic or metal printers and digital design software are extensions of things from fift", eight", a hundred "ears ago that did the same things& we$ve merel" evolved them into

versions re*uiring less aptitude and skill to operate. +elding and metal fa)rication for example: learning how to craft within the new MakerSpace an astounding artwork of various or com)ined metals, understanding the metallurg" of the work on a cognitive level is indistinguisha)le from using the skills to Make a wage in the econom". +ere the "oung person to attempt a go at ,rt(Making for profit, he8she will pro)a)l" continue working the coffee )rewhaus da" %o) unless the"$ve created a connectivit" )randing scheme or stage(managed a )reak(through past the art(critic portcullis, esta)lishing some attention(attracting image to go with the art. The "oung metal fa)ricator on the other hand is making fifteen to twent"(five )ucks an hour in the real econom", and with a little initiative and a couple of %unior(college night classes, can parla" the skills into a career Making far more in work for him8herself or for others& more even than the entr" level schoolteacher with the five("ear universit" program on the curriculum vitae. This new Maker thing is what we used to call Shop 0lass, though the intelligentsia created euphemisms to avoid the proletarian term. The experts communicating and coaching the skills needed in the new Maker Spaces were once called Shop Teachers.

http:88makerspace.com

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