Maker Pedagogy

A Paradigm for Teaching, Learning, and Leading in the Modern School

Bridget Looney

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781836082057
• eBook ISBN: 9781836082064
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Curricula

In traditional schooling, language and literacy development are often prioritized at the expense of early engagement with science, social studies, and the arts. Content rich, inquiry-based learning is typically delayed—especially in the early years. Maker Pedagogy: A Paradigm for Teaching, Learning, and Leading in the Modern School challenges this model by presenting an inclusive, transdisciplinary approach to learning rooted in children's natural ways of exploring and understanding the world.

In maker-centered classrooms, students collaborate, problem-solve, and engage with meaningful content through hands-on experiences that foster creativity, agency, and persistence. Rather than isolating "making" as a separate subject or reserving it for specialized spaces, Bridget Looney positions maker pedagogy as a flexible, equitable framework for teaching and learning across grade levels and content areas.

Grounded in empirical research, this book showcases how K–12 teachers have implemented maker pedagogy with varying levels of institutional support. Through richly detailed case studies, Looney explores the affordances and tensions of integrating making into school culture, curriculum, and leadership—providing insight into what supports inclusive, sustained, and child-centered innovation. Maker pedagogy's focus on democratic participation, equity, and empowerment extends to school leadership where it calls upon teachers, students, and those in formal school leadership roles to examine and develop school policies and practices together.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I: Understanding Maker Pedagogy: Foundations and Context
• 1 What is a Makerspace and How Can it Serve as a Classroom?
• 2 How is Maker Pedagogy a Timely Paradigm for Teaching 
and Learning?
• Part II: Introducing Maker Pedagogy into the Classroom in 
Small and Big Ways: The Stories of Mary, Sandra, and Eli
• 3 Mary’s Story
• 4 Sandra’s Story
• 5 Eli’s Story
• Part III: Integrating Maker Pedagogy Throughout the School
• 6 The Challenge of Bringing Maker Pedagogy to Scale in Schools
• Appendix A: Classroom Makerspace – Mary
• Appendix B: Materials – Mary
• Appendix C: Classroom Makerspace – Sandra
• Appendix D: Eli’s Final Project Choices
• Appendix E: Project Rubric – Eli
• Appendix F: Classroom Makerspace – Eli
• About the Author
• References
• Index