If schools are serious about learning, sharing with families should value process not product.
To reflect this, we need to showcase more of the ‘almost there.’ Parents and children coming together, should not only be passive interaction where parents listen to a presentation of what has come. But problem-solving and posing about what might have been.
What does a ‘maker’ exhibition look like?
This group of children have, planned their idea and have their materials organised. But nothing’s finished and the parents are about to walk through the door…
This child is showing parents how to put together a circuit. She’s using tinfoil tape because she knows it conducts.
This child is showing off scratch, so that the cardboard guitar in the background can play.
This group chose marshmallows but were nervous that they hadn’t used this particular material before. They thought that the squishy inside must mean there was some water inside for the electricity to conduct. They weren’t worried because they had a back-up plan if their marshmallow didn’t pass the test.
This group made a prototype the day beforehand and is using this to guide them in the making process.
Through this process the children learned:
- To make decisions about what they need and organise their own equipment
- To think about how they know what they have learned
- To take risks and troubleshoot potential problems
- To communicate a process so others can follow it
Teaching the Teacher 
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