Background

Modeling and prototyping have long been a key part of the engineering and design process, with the idea being that new inventions are tested and studied in low/no-risk environments before then being deployed in the wider world. Restaurants and hotels have a similar practice which takes the form of the soft opening. And in theater and music, there are different types of rehearsals. The same cannot be said for education, however, as K-12 teachers often lack low/no-stakes opportunities in which to test–trial, model, prototype, rehearse, etc.–their curricular plans and ideas before enacting them in actual classrooms with actual students.

Hypothesizing that education might improve if/when teachers have greater access to such opportunities, EDstivals recognize the role of community-based fairs and festivals as examples of low-stakes proving grounds. There are any number of examples of community-based fairs and festivals to look to for inspiration–e.g., food, livestock, arts & crafts, music, religious–and, like all of these examples, EDstivals aim to provide low-stakes opportunities for educators to experiment with their ideas. Most importantly, however, EDstivals leverage the festivity of festivals. In other words, they are defined by community, celebration, cheer, and joviality.

Development forthcoming…