…I am a maker because I use phrases like “design learning experiences.” These comments mistake what I do for what I am actually trying to elicit and support from students. The appropriate metaphor for education, as Ursula Franklin has pointed out, is a garden, not the production line (Franklin 22–23).
Debbie Chachra, “Beyond Making,” in Making Things and Drawing Boundaries: Experiments in the Digital Humanities, ed. Jentry Sayers, Debates in the Digital Humanities (University of Minnesota Press, 2017).
This passage stuck with me because it challenges the view of education acting as a process of producing outputs and frames education as being a nurturing practice. Franklin’s metaphor of education as a garden emphasizes that personal growth, care, and patience (among other values) are often under-appreciated in our society which prioritizes universally measurable outputs such as grades, degrees, or certain skills. Mistaking what one does for what one is trying to elicit is an aspect of this quote that resonated with me. I know how common it is to mistake one’s intentions for what one does. It seems important to open up the definition of what it means to ‘make’ something, since ‘to make’ does not need to refer to a physical object or a service that can be sold.
I connected with this quote on a personal level. In a way, it reminded me not only of my educational journey, but my journey through life as well. Some of the most important learning experiences I have faced were not about acquiring a specific skill, but how being placed in the proper environment is essential to learning. Such environments are ones where I felt encouraged to explore thoughts and questions I had that went beyond the strict curriculum. Moments like these shaped how I approached the concept of learning itself in addition to what I learned.
In the realm of digital arts, I am most excited to explore 3D modeling. I have messed around with some tools in the past to create a 3D design of an object, but I want to improve this skill in hopes of designing more complicated objects. I think 3D modeling is an excellent environment that will support creative learning. The options are so vast, the more outside of the box one approaches a concept, the “better” their process may be.
