The Process of Tinkering and the Study of English

Jentery Sayers’ “Tinker-Centric Pedagogy in Literature and Language Classrooms” discusses the method of “tinkering” in the teaching and learning of English literature. Sayers argues that tinkering, a method used originally by engineers and computer scientists, can be applied to the researching, reading, and writing processes of students of language and literature in this digital age.

The practice of tinkering itself is the antithesis if the stereotype of the humanities scholar alone at the desk surrounded by books–or, as Sayers puts it, the “lone scholar.” Tinkering places an emphasis on collaborative and communal learning and working processes, opening literature and language students to new modes of tactical and experimental learning. Tinkering in the classroom would resist the traditional ways of teaching language and literature, favoring the constant rearranging of ideas, encouraging adaptability in students.

At first, I have to say I wasn’t particularly impressed with Sayers’ argument on the importance of incorporating tinkering into literature and language classes. From my understanding, tinkering already does happen in literature classrooms, just independent of digital media (for example, in the process of drafting, writing abstracts, etc.). But when I got to her examples of classroom exercises with tinkering and literature, I began to understand its value, particularly when it came to the discussion of teaching coding to literature students as language. Aside from the practical value of learning coding, it is undeniable that digital media provides a unique way for students to research and present their work; teaching coding as language (as opposed to the way it is taught in computing disciplines) should be essential in this digital age.