#  Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn 

 





November 02, 2018

 

 

“While working on your projects, what’s your approach when something doesn’t go according to plan?” Nina Bhattacharya, the Incubator’s Instructional Design Specialist, moderated a student panel during the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s [Teaching and Learning Week](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/18/10/teaching-and-learning-week-t-550-55-seconds). The conversation was part of Associate Professor [Karen Brennan](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/faculty/karen-brennan)’s course on constructionism, [*T-550: Designing for Learning by Creating*](https://www.dropbox.com/s/7xp8od2epwegiad/T550_2018_Syllabus.pdf?dl=0), where Nina is part of the facilitation team. In particular, the panel explored the power and potential of “learning communities,” through the voices of youth educators from Boston’s [Learn 2 Teach, Teach 2 Learn](https://www.wgbh.org/news/2016/08/17/innovation/how-bostons-fab-lab-changing-tech-world) (L2TT2L) program.

Through L2TT2L, housed at the South End Technology Center, high school students first learn to work with emerging technologies from 3D printing to lasercutting at MIT Media Lab. After this initial exposure, the students dream up, prototype, build, and pilot a project that tackles an important problem in their community. As the small groups build [their projects](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7l7RobrJRk), the students collaborate with their fellow youth teachers to develop teaching activities. At the end of the summer, these youth teachers work with middle school and elementary students in their neighborhoods to teach the six emerging technologies they learned. The entire experience culminates with a Project Expo with friends and family, most recently attended by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

“It’s about access to technology, hands on learning, and for young people who want to make a difference in their communities,” said Lola Fearon, one of the five youth teachers on the panel, when asked to describe L2TT2L in her own words. The program is about 90 percent youth of color, and many youth come from families living with low incomes.



 

Nina and the youth educators—Jalil Coleman, Adonis Evans, Lola Fearon, Jaelene Ortiz, and Clinton Osula—engaged in a broad-ranging dialogue that included tips for tackling challenges in projects and tapping the power of community to define and nurture meaningful projects. “Contribute ideas, nothing is a bad idea, just try it,” said Jaelene, about working on projects. “See what works out and go with it. Don’t stress, at the end of the day it’s about helping the community.”

Their wisdom extended to approaches to teaching and learning, based on their own firsthand experience: “Learn to adapt to who you are teaching to and what you are teaching about,” shared Clinton.

“Making sense of messy problems in groups is hard,” said Nina, reflecting on her own work at the Incubator. “We see this all the time in global health, where the problems are just as complex as the responses, and require different disciplines to come together. It was deeply inspiring to learn about the diverse approaches the L2TT2L youth teachers used to tackle shared challenges.”

To learn more about the shared challenges GHELI tackles, browse our [thematic focuses](/our-themes).

Photo and Video Credit: Alexa Kutler



 

 

 



 

 

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