During the STEAM Camp Colombia Robotics – SAI 2023, Victoria Eugenia Mena Rodríguez facilitated a Pre-Texts workshop for teachers from different areas of knowledge to provide new ways of approaching the processes of creation and production of knowledge through art.
During the workshop, participants read chapter 16 of the novel “Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions” by Edwin Abbott Abbott. Published in 1884, it was written under the pseudonym “A Square.”
After the experience, participants, along with the workshop facilitator, drew conclusions from the sessions:
Each participant tested their role as a facilitator and benefited from the feedback of their peers.
The exercises facilitated the integration of knowledge from different disciplines, such as mathematics and language, strengthening reading comprehension, text interpretation, and strategic writing.
Through Pre-Texts, reading is unequivocally promoted as a practice that shapes creative citizens where high-level cognitive abilities (interpretation, problem-solving, critical thinking, among others) and language skills acquisition (fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) are stimulated.
They valued reading as a vehicle for the exploration of personal and collective experiences. Texts were recognized as agents of creativity, open to intervention.
Curiosity and recursion, synonyms of innovation and creativity, unfold.
Restlessness and frustration are channeled into creative and artistic expressions.
Local cultural capital is enriched and acknowledged through the appropriation of academic material.
“Super interesting methodology that involves the participation of all and in which spaces are created to do work for each participant in a classroom. I will take this back to use with my students and make my classes more innovative and creative.”.
The camp was organized by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación) on the island of San Andres.
Check the full report: Ministerio de Ciencias Tecnología e Innovación.