#402: “A Makerspace is a Lousy Place to Do School In”: Studying Student-Driven Sociocultural Shifts in a Classroom Makerspace

This paper investigates longitudinal shifts in sociocultural activity in a K-8 classroom makerspace in the United States. Using cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) as a theoretical framework and practitioner reflections over three years as a primary data source, a school-based practitioner researcher and university-based researcher identify key shifts in activity and tensions that emerged when making was both enabled and constrained by school. Findings illustrate the central role that students’ acts of self-determination can have on shifting a classroom makerspace activity system, particularly when a teacher is attuned and receptive to those acts of self-determination. Key tensions emerged related to teacher as central node for facilitating activity, even as the system shifted with student-directed activity.