Education

It’s a real buzz to see people bring something to an event that’s broken, and not only leave with it fixed but also leave with the confidence and skills to tackle it themselves next time.

Your events can be amazing centres of learning and fun, but you might also be interested in taking it further and encouraging repair with the next generation. Imagine a future where our future designers, engineers, business and political leaders and more, are passionate about repair and help create a world where it’s the norm – let’s start that passion early.

There are a few programmes that have been developed for taking repair into schools, colleges and universities, which we have highlighted below. And if you know of others, please do contact us so that we can share them as well.

Repair Café in the Classroom

A manual for teaching one or more Repair Café lessons in primary schools. For more resources, contact the Malvern Hills Repair Café (repaircafemalvernhills@gmail.com).

Materials matter

Learn about the materials inside our electronics. Through online and hands-on activities, participants of all ages can discover the hidden environmental impact of smartphones. Disassemble and reassemble a smartphone and learn about the ‘critical’ raw materials. Let’s challenge ourselves to learn how the environment and people are impacted by the production of the things we all buy.

MAKE IT WORK!

Djapo and Sharepair developed two excellent teaching packs that help pupils examine the role of repairing electronic and electrical devices in a sustainable and circular economy. The packs contain both general background information, comprehensive lesson plans and activities that help students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Teaching pack for 10-12 year olds  |  Teaching pack for 14-18 year olds

Culture of Repair

Culture of Repair, a California-based project that promotes repair around the USA and beyond, has compiled a fantastic list of educational resources and materials.

Repair Café’s Global Survey in 2019 revealed that attracting a younger audience is one of the most important tasks that repair groups have set themselves. Linking in with education settings is a great way to build awareness and interest in repair with young people.
We’d encourage you to get creative, whether that’s through:

  • using one of the tools above
  • running mini repair events in your local college or university e.g. sewing repair events with local textile courses during
  • Fashion Revolution week or setting up a bike repair pop-up next to the bike sheds
  • including a ‘tinker station’ at your events, where kids are encouraged to get hands-on with tools, take things apart etc
  • organise specific toy repair workshops and dolls’ hospitals (maybe near a local playground).Have fun and pass on the love and joy of repair!

Join the Student Repair Revolution!

Students across the UK are taking action to reduce waste, lower greenhouse gas emissions and save money by giving their stuff a new lease of life. We can offer specialised support to university students and staff bringing repair to campus.

Join the Reuse Movement