Toward a Socio-Cultural Perspective on "Making": Pupils' Journey through Materials, People and Places

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a series of workshops conducted with first grade pupils (6-7 years old) and their teacher. These workshops aim at introducing pupils to typeface design to create a class typeface to be used both on computer and on posters. While describing the whole sequence of activities pupils engaged in, we intend to open new perspectives on "making" for general education, considering its social and cultural dimensions. Throughout this report, we highlight how such making activity can support (1) pupils' acknowledgment of complex relations between materials, people and places, (2) the connection of schools to new environments and renewed agency perspectives, and (3) the development of a class culture.