Placing “hacking” at the centre of maker pedagogy

hacking maker pedagogy

What does it mean to think about hacking in the context of maker pedagogy?

As a result of my recent presentation in the CRESTEM series at KCL, I was invited to give an interview to Iván Diego of Asturias4STEAM. The Asturias4STEAM program is a part of the 2018-2022 Science, Technology and Innovation Plan of the Government of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Asturias4STEAM was created with the aim of promoting scientific-technological vocations in all stages of the educational system. The website aims to (1) support and make visible to work of teachers and educational centres, (2) disseminate and generate knowledge about STEAM education, and (3) learn about STEAM education from other interested parties.

We had a excellent and far-ranging conversation, on topics ranging from how I became formally interested in the idea of using ideas about “making” in education to some of my concerns about the potential for educational inequity to be introduced as a result of STEAM–and making–initiatives. I am grateful for Iván’s thoughtful questions. His ideas and prompts provided me with an opportunity to move beyond some of my initial thinking about maker pedagogy to place hacking at the centre of maker pedagogy. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

In his book Permanent Record (2019) Edward Snowden talks about his journey learning about computers and offers an interesting definition of hacking. It’s about knowing something as well as you can possibly know it. It’s about knowing the rules for a particular system or device and understanding the full suite of possibilities. It’s about taking whatever issue you’re interested in, approaching it from as many angles as possible, constructing it, reconstructing it, and making mistakes. And that  gave me the metaphor for thinking about where I might like to take Maker Pedagogy.

– Bullock (2021), Asturias4STEAM Interview

I recommend that you read the article in its entirety. There is both an English version and a Spanish version. My sincere thanks to Iván for a great discussion- I look forward to staying in touch!

/SMB