Bricoleurs – what does this mean?
I was interested in a post by Kearney (2009) entitled ‘Young people as ‘digital bricoleurs’. The term bricoleurs was the thing that grabbed my attention given it was a term that I had not seen before. Kearney (2009) refers to the metaphor as being “… most suitable for thinking about the type of new media activities some children are participating in”. He continues by stating that “As well as reading, critiquing and listening to new media, these young people are typically creating, ‘mashing’, publishing and ‘talking around’ personally and culturally meaningful artefacts”. In essence, Kearney is referring to technology and digitilisation; students and their ability to develop, create and accept ownership of artefacts; valuing, culture and change; user-friendliness and accessibility of collaboration tools; and, the audience for whom the artefacts have been created and, how they might “explore, share and interact with others”.
Reflection
1. What is your understanding of the term ‘bricoleur’?
2. What place do ‘Young people as digital bricoleurs’ have in classrooms today?
References (used in Kearney’s post)
Brown, J. (2000). Growing up digital: How the web changes work, education, and the ways people learn. Change, March/April, 11-20.
Hsi, S. (2007). Conceptualizing learning from the everyday activities of digital kids. International Journal of Science Education, 29:12, 1509 – 1529
