Education happens everywhere. Learning happens in our community, not just at school. Our current education system

struggles to tap the resources available in the community, yet our culture is richer with information and opportunities than

ever before.

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Changes in technology over the past few decades have led to a shift toward more focus on the individual and a move away from

decentralization in many parts of our lives. Big city newspapers to bloggers. Large-scale manufacturing to personal fabrication. A handful of Hollywood studios and television networks to millions, perhaps billions, of online “amateur” video options. Lobbyists in Washington to grassroots, Internet-based political financing. Factory farming to slow food eaten by localvores. A vast power infrastructure to living off the grid with solar panels and windmills. We can produce and consume as

individuals within a networked community in all these areas.

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The glaring exception to this is in how we teach our kids. Somehow, we’ve allowed education to become increasingly centralized, where we let public officials say that children will be pumped out of the school machine at age 18 knowing the same facts and gaining all the same skills. Learning standards reflect the uniform expectations our governmental agencies have of all children of a certain age. Many schools are preparing them for a world that none of us want to live in, and one

that doesn’t exist anymore. We know that all kids are individuals, and yet in schooling, our public officials expect them all

to be the same. Arguably, the diversity of educational options was greater two centuries ago than it is now.

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Our kids can learn more efficiently—and as individuals. We imagine that schools can become places where students learn to identify their own challenges, solve new problems, motivate themselves to complete a project, engage in difficult tasks. work together, inspire others, and give advice and guidance to their peers. We see all that happening already in the Maker community. And, increasingly, we recognize there is a real hunger for the resources and infrastructure for kids and adults to be spending more time making, too. We're working to support that hunger for making in several ways. The Young Makers program is one initiative. We’re also developing online resources to support making in many different contexts, as well as working to create physical spaces where kids can make things: Makerspaces. Through these and other efforts, we seek to develop self-motivated, self-directed learners. We aim to help the youth of our nation regain the spirit of innovation, ingenuity, and curiosity that has been dormant until recently.

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As leaders in the resurgence of the do-it-yourself movement, we are dedicated to sparking the DIY spirit in all those whose lives we touch. We don’t see any reason why we, as a society, can’t transform education into a system that nurtures individuals to adopt the habits of mind that Makers have and to become the engaged citizens we all want to be. 

Impact Areas

• Inspiration : to participate in the creative economy and direct their own future

• Innovation : a catalyst for grassroots invention

• Education : building a connection between the community and learners

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We are particularly interested in how this approach might reach students who don't fit well into the existing system or who

have already dropped out of it. As we’ve said, at Maker Faire, there are no winners or losers — anything that's cool is fair game. It's not a competition, and there aren't prizes, so there are no judges deciding who has succeeded and who has failed. Yet Makers — some with two PhDs, others who never graduated from anywhere — are motivated to spend long hours in their studios, shops, kitchens, and garages finishing their projects. Makers work in art, craft, engineering, music, food, science, technology, health, and often in several of these areas at once. Their projects are thoughtful, challenging, and innovative. But most importantly, we notice that all Makers are curious and motivated people. The 2010 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report states that “the problem is not just a lack of proficiency among American students; there is also a lack of interest in STEM fields among many students.” When students and teachers develop personal connections with the ideas and excitement of STEM fields, their learning is most successful.

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It isn't enough to train current students for the world of today — we have to train them for tomorrow, a tomorrow that will require them to master technologies that don't yet exist. Think about it: a child in middle school today will be entering the prime of their careers in 2040. We have no idea what the world will be like then. Therefore it is crucial to develop timeless skills such as curiosity, creativity, and the ability to learn on one's own. These are precisely the skills that are honed by efforts such as the Young Makers program. We believe the Maker movement captures something about the future for a new direction in education. We know that many teachers are re-energized by their annual visit to Maker Faire, and a few join us in our optimism for making as a way to learn. We hear this time and again from teachers. The Maker movement exemplifies the kind of passion and personal motivation that inspires innovation. We can engage students as makers who learn how to use tools and processes to help them reach their own goals and realize their own ideas. How can we translate this intrinsic motivation to education? How can we channel these core values, a shared spirit, ethics, discipline, mutual respect, reciprocity, self-directed learning into how we teach? Or more generally, in a future world, what could schooling look like? And how can Maker Clubs shift how we think about achievement? These are the questions we hope to answer ... with your help!