Explorative Interaction with Materiality in Norwegian Primary School Makerspaces from the Perspective of Arts and Crafts Education

Abstract

Educational makerspaces have now been established in many Norwegian schools. Makerspace initiators promote active learning by using new and traditional materials, tools and technologies in creative activities. Arts and crafts (A&C) education shares many ideas with makerspaces, inviting pupils to explorative interaction through material engagement that promotes multiple ways of knowing. In this study, we examined primary school pupils’ explorative interaction with materiality in Norwegian educational makerspaces from an A&C education perspective. We conducted semi-structured interviews with teachers in seven schools, asking about their practices. We also observed teachers and pupils engaging in makerspace activities in four of these schools. Our interviews revealed that science teachers have completed the crucial groundwork of initiating the building of makerspaces in Norwegian schools. We found that the teachers were highly motivated to use new materials, adding new dimensions of making for the pupils, but the materials and technologies could be utilised more constructively and exploratively and in more open-ended processes. Science and A&C teachers could benefit from closer collaboration, developing and implementing co-creative and explorative aspects of traditional and new materials, tools and technologies in makerspace activities. We argue that including A&C could bring new creative potential into makerspace activities, allowing pupils to craft with materials through artistic, sensorial and explorative dimensions of materiality more extensively than they currently do.