Why We Banned Legos

 

For my reading, I read “Why We Banned Legos: Exploring power, ownership, and equity in the classroom” by Ann Pelo and Kendra Pelojoaquin.  This story shared a wonderful tale about how two after school club teachers used observation to inform their instruction around the social justice issues of power, ownership, and equity.  

First, let's begin with the problem.  Legotown was assembled and created by a group of 8 year old boys. It was a collection of houses, buildings, air ports, and community  meeting areas which were created by a specific group of boys.  What was observed was that only a few boys held decision making power and they wouldn’t allow other kids to join in or if they did there were contingencies attached.  As lego town grew and materials became more precious, the builders began to exclude other children.  As these children were building their town, they were also building their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys, those that reflected a class-based, capitalist society.  Then one day, the structure was accidentally demolished during an outside event.  This is when the teachers decided to ban Lego and teach students about the social justice issues they saw playing out as Legotown was being created.  

The teachers decided to teach these social issues by creating games and activities that utilized Legos in a way that would teach the social issues at hand.   One game they did was teaching students about distribution of wealth and power.  Students drew a picture about what they thought power meant and discussed deeply about what it means.  Next, students explored power by coming face to face with the frustration, anger, and hopelessness that can come with being on the outside of power and privilege. ( p. 56)  To do this they created a Lego trading game.  Each Lego color has a point value.  Green was the highest at 5 points.  Students selected 10 Lego's and then had to add up their points.  Students were able to trade out lego bricks go get more points.  However, what they quickly realized is that if you had bricks with a high value, you did not want to trade it, so because whoever had the most points was able to decide the rules for the next game, this led to a lot of frustration.  The teachers also explored questions about how rules are made and enforced when they ought to be followed or broke (p. 59).  

After five months, the teachers felt as if Legotown could return with more guidance around how the play should look and sound.  This work time emphasized negotiated decision making, collaboration and collectivity.  They valued the importance of students practicing these skills together.  The children learned the value of collectivity and how shared power is a valuable goal.  

Check out this video on Lego Education.  Lego has education kids that teachers can use to incorporate STEM activities.  It is pretty interesting!