Making as a Creative Practice

A conversation with Matt Zigler, author of "3 Modes of Making"

Most schools systems say they value creativity and want to produce students who are creative but how does that happen? If creativity, broadly defined, is valued in the workplace now and in the future, how do we foster creativity in students? How do we encourage students to take creative risks in their work rather than choosing to do what’s safe and predictable?

As Matt Zigler and I discuss, you can’t teach creativity but you can create an enviroment that encourages creative minds to experiment and explore while developing projects. Creativity is a practice, a way of thinking about what’s possible and acting to make things as a result. The more you do it, the better you become at it.

Teacher and artist, Matt Zigler is the author of a new book for educators titled "3 Modes of Making." He thinks of imitation, modification and innovation as three different modes of project development, each of which develop different maker skills.

For seven years, Matt has been running the makerspace at Bullis, an independent school in the DC area. He brings a background in art and creative practice to the makerspace and his school. It's not that every student is going to be an artist but every student can and should develop a creative practice, regardless of subject or area of interest. While makerspaces are a catalyst for this kind of thinking, the power comes from transforming the experience of school for all students — less boring and more creative.

Matt’s book is important because he shows teachers how they can introduce this practice into their makerspace and their school, helping students create projects based on their own interests and ideas.

For the audio podcast version and a transcript, go here.

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Here’s the Table of Contents of Matt’s book.

You can buy “3 Modes of Making” on Makershed.com: Print – PDF