Our last research question for this school year was: “Can learners define the word ‘makom‘ in a personally meaningful way?” And we approached the structure of our research and data collection in a varied approach from the rest of the year.
We answered the question not only by observing the collective learning, but we also directly asked the learners. Over the course of the past eight weeks, each learner built their understanding of what a makom (a place – one where we become who we are meant to be) is to them. Especially early on, some learners found it challenging to define a makom outside of the definitions we’d introduced them to. Many week one definitions were “a place” or “a place of becoming.”
Younger learners were also much more likely to reference this makom – our Philadelphia Learning Lab, and the people within it. But even when they had yet to arrive at personal definitions of a “makom” or to draw their own, these learners’ statements reflected insights into what is important to them – in this makom and others.
One way we observed and asked kids to engage with makom definitions and make makom meanings for themselves was by incorporating these questions into at least one shulchan avodah (project center) per week. Educators circulated during this time, inviting learners to join them in reflecting on their creations. This was one of the first times educators directly asked: “What do you think makom means and how does it feel there?”
Kindergarten learners shared:
- “I can feel all my feelings there [at Makom Community]”
- “And it’s the best place to learn Hebrew”
- “It makes me feel welcomed”
If learners were getting stuck on a makom just being one place, we invited them to draw any real or imagined place where they felt safe and comfortable, and to consider how they felt or would feel in those places. Learners, kindergarten through fourth grade, shared project space and modalities, and when asked how a makom feels, some answers we got included:
- “A place you love or that’s your home…[somewhere that] feels like the fluffiest pajamas in the world”
- “Somewhere that feels like the *cozy corner… or like a weekend morning when you don’t have to do stuff”
- “my house,” “my family,” “my elders,” and “my friends”
*A cozy corner is an area of our learning spaces specifically designed for comfort and warmth.
Another challenge for many learners was translating their ideas of a makom into something visual. “It’s a place you care about,” said one fourth-grade learner, “But it’s hard to draw that, even when I know what it is.”
Learners connected their makom definitions to another ongoing theme, of brachot (blessings) and choosing bracha (blessing) over anger and frustration. Many learners identified that it was easier to choose bracha – to feel gratitude and appreciation – in some places more than others.
Our first and second grade learners especially had a lot of thoughts on what makes some places, including Makom Community, sometimes challenging settings to choose bracha. Unmet wants or needs, which they identified as getting in the way of choosing brachot, included:
- “A lack of choices”
- “A lack of recognition that people like and are good at different things”
- “A lack of space for us to all be different”
Some compared Makom Community favorably to school and other places they frequent. Others expressed resistance to structured lessons and expectations at Makom, and a desire for more autonomy and fun than is available to them here or anywhere else.
Even when the things learners hoped for weren’t possible in this setting – or were just a little silly, like a kindergartener saying she wanted a place where she could “become a ball of hair,” we saw learners thinking about and sharing big ideas.
They reflected on what safety and comfort look and feel like. They considered who and what they needed to feel most like themselves. “Connection” and “community” were two frequently used words across age cohorts. “Place” was the most common, and over the course of eight weeks, we saw learners engaging with what kinds of places they wanted to be in and to see in the world.
Learners depicted their emerging understandings through multiple mediums and iterations of art. They shared their artist statements in their own words, and that art, that self-knowledge, is the beautiful note on which we conclude our year.
Click here to see more examples of our kiddos’ makom projects.