Guiding pre-service teachers to making

Abstract

As our society becomes further driven by technology, schools need to consider adopting student-centered maker pedagogies that harness the capabilities of technology while disrupting traditional teacher-centered learning. This research aimed to understand how a progressive guided to self-praxis approach learning maker pedagogies can impact pre-service teachers’ confidence and competencies and influence their teaching practices. Using a qualitative, interpretive case study, a small cohort of pre-service teachers participated in a three-phased, 20-hour Maker Lab internship. A four-tiered conceptual framework guided this study which used an iterative abduction analysis process to interpret the findings. The results of this study highlight that these guided approaches with a community of learners supported pre-service teachers’ competency and confidence growth with maker pedagogical approaches. These approaches also positively influenced the mindsets and agentic perspectives of pre-service teachers. However, there were unique barriers in secondary schools that adversely impacted Intermediate/Senior pre-service teachers’ views on adopting maker pedagogies.