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A Makerspace walks into a high-school: a case study of the micropolitics of school reform

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Abstract

Adoption of Maker programs entails deep cultural and structural changes within schools. In this case study, we interviewed a principal and seven faculty members in a high school in the United States, after the first year of implementing making-centered curricula. We report how faculty members responded to the reform, their motivations and beliefs, and the concomitant shifts in power and status. We found that educators are required to make non-trivial adaptations to their skills, instructional approaches, and pedagogical beliefs, and that successful adaptation may lead them to gain status, resources, and support within the school. Those are gained on account of technical expertise and educators’ efforts to promote the vision of the reform. The extent to which faculty members adapt to a reform, accommodate and support others in their process of adapting, or resist it, may determine whether the reform is successful or not. As such, school leaders face the challenge of encouraging faculty to buy into such reforms. The case study provides a unique perspective on Maker-centered reforms and outlines important implications for administrators seeking to implement similar programs. 

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Notes

  1. Constructionism owes a somewhat unacknowledged intellectual debt to Dewey, who, in 1899, drew attention to “the instinct of making–the constructive impulse...sha** materials into tangible forms and permanent embodiment... There is no distinction between experimental science for little children and the work done in the carpenter shop” (Dewey, 1990, p.60).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Fabio Campos & Yoav Bergner

  2. Department of Administration, Leadership, and Technology, New York University, 82 Washington Square East, Pless Hall 7th Floor, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Ofer Chen

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  1. Ofer Chen
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  2. Fabio Campos
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  3. Yoav Bergner
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Correspondence to Ofer Chen.

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Chen, O., Campos, F. & Bergner, Y. A Makerspace walks into a high-school: a case study of the micropolitics of school reform. Education Tech Research Dev 72, 385–403 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-023-10268-3

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