IAT develops, practices, and shares educational methods that challenge and support all children to engage deeply in their learning via real interests and real tools.
The Institute for Applied Tinkering is an organization dedicated to building a 21st-century model of education. Over the past 15 years we’ve brought child-centric, collaborative, hands-on education experiences to children in many different ways: sleep away camp, K-12 school, day camp, after-school programs, teacher workshops, and more. Thousands of kids, parents, and educators attest to the richness and lasting impact of the experiences we deliver.
We believe that all children deserve opportunities to engage with their world in creative and adventurous ways. We are committed not only to making our programs available to families of all income levels but also to sharing our learnings with parents, teachers, and schools around the world.
Tinkering School
Founded in 2005 by Gever Tulley, Tinkering School believes that kids are more capable than they know, and to prove it, we give them real tools to solve real problems. By learning through doing, we strive to make mistakes and learn from them, collaborate and make friends, and try harder than usual. We also believe that adults can learn, and we work hard to help them learn how to make more space for kids, and to explore and build with them.
Brightworks
Brightworks is a K-12 independent school in San Francisco that honors students’ agency by partnering with them on their educational path. That is why we call our teachers Collaborators. It’s the school that says, “YES!” You want to write a novel? Ok! You want to start a small business to raise money for the animal shelter? Let’s do it! You want to build a sail car and go on a journey down an abandoned railway? Let’s figure it out together! Children are instinctual learners and part of the mission at our lab school is to learn how to better support their instincts and share those learnings with the world.
Community Resources
The Institute for Applied Tinkering has as part of its primary mission the goal of supporting education transformation around the world. We do this partly by inspiring others through our programs, but also by providing resources and support in various ways to educators, families, and organizations seeking to rethink how to partner with children in exploring our world.
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Phone
(415) 701-8700