ABSTRACT
Bricolage is a practical process of learning through tinkering. It involves continual transformation of physical and cultural items, with earlier products or materials that are ready to hand becoming resources for new constructions. There are two uses of the term ‘bricolage’ with relevance to pedagogy. The first refers to the ways in which people learn by improvising around materials. The second use of ‘bricolage’ in education relates to engaging in innovation by creative exploration of the practices and technologies needed to achieve an educational goal. At a more abstract level, bricolage is a continual testing of constraints and the structures within which imaginative play occurs. The Yoza Project is an example of bricolage in educational technology. The Yoza Project has been incorporated into a larger enterprise called FunDza, to get young people reading. Bricolage develops sensitivity to the forms, properties and uses of materials that are important for professions ranging from cooking to chemistry, architecture to engineering.
