The puzzle exercise was about how making can solidify our intentions towards a goal; in this case, reconciliation. I believe the more people who have intention, coupled with action, the better the result will be. Dr. Mark Edwards spoke about his optimism (M. Edwards, personal communication, July 14, 2023) that each person's thoughts, particularly in the moments after a land acknowledgement, could be a force for change.

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Ah Hah Moment: Affinity Bias

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I reflected on how quickly I chose to sign up for the puzzle challenge. Painting is a skill that I am quite familiar, this challenge was crafty and could be described as coded female, and I enjoy it immensely. I remember not being interested at all in the other two options: robotics and making a large Jenga puzzle out of wood. My affinity bias towards artists and painting had unconsciously influenced my decision. I have been to many arts conferences in the U.S. and remember feeling very comfortable and thinking, 'these are my people' as I have walked into presentations. I also recall thinking of how 'hard' the robotics challenge might be, and how in the past I had been shown some examples of educational robots and felt out of place. In a matter of seconds, I had skipped thinking critically and opted for fun. I had an opportunity to learn more about robotics (a male-coded activity), and an area that would support my ed-tech learning, but instead chose a path of least resistance. This discovery makes me question where else I have let bias influence my decision-making.

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My own maker challenge:

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I thought deeply about how to decolonize making by connecting with Indigenous communities and relationship-building. How I might use this challenge in my own practice would be to create a maker challenge that incorporates the learning from Dr. Edward's talk about land acknowledgements and imbues the positivity of reconciliation and change. I would reach out first to the First Nations community the activity would be taking place on to find out what would be appropriate.  For this course, not having had that opportunity, I can only speculate or ideate the following.

 

The making activity would take place in nature. I would have participants find a natural object and return to the group. Then they would be challenged to write a story about the history of that object. It would be up to them but it may include where it has been, what it has seen, how it feels being where it is, what it is afraid of, how it has transformed, and what it hopes to be in the future. I would then ask that participants put the object back exactly where and how they found it. Participants would go through the processes of 'taking', 'being', 'returning' with the goal of transforming. After the story exercise, participants would be asked to voluntarily share their stories and thoughts. The only thing participants would take home would be memories of the experience and their own writing.

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Colonizers have taken from Indigenous peoples in many ways. The land has been stolen, abused, and commodified. My hope would be that participants would think about the landscape as a living thing and each object a part of that community in itself. By situating themselves as part of that community, they might feel more of a connection to and respect for Indigenous people, the first peoples, and the role that they have had as stewards of the land, and have a shift towards conservation and treading lightly.