Weakness as an orientation for the future: Makerspaces, inventive thinking, and student initiative

When we think about readiness of the future, a tendency is for educators to reach towards notions of preparation. However, if we are to design schools for creative outcomes, such a model may pose as a hindrance instead. Teachers cannot possibly know the “right answer” to the question of what the students want to create, and here lies a tension for educating for a discipline-specific form of creativity – too much guidance, and the project is no longer the students’, while too little risks failure and underachievement. This chapter describes the pedagogical orientation of weakness as it pertains to STEM makerspaces. We introduce the concept of weakness as an approach to instruction which expands the role of the teacher as expert to becoming an advocate for students’ intentions. Given the numerous risks our children will face in the future, it is imperative that we prepare them well: they will need to increase their agency and autonomy to transcend the problems we leave behind. Not all we value is worthy of reproduction, and an orientation of weakness may give young people a chance for a truly different tomorrow.