‘Your past prepares you for who you will become’: reoccurring themes in the individual pasts of maker education teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Maker education offer numerous potential benefits for student learning; however, we currently lack an understanding of the ways in which educators integrate these pedagogies into regular practice. This qualitative study examines the background and motivations of 12 educators involved in makerspace initiatives at their respective schools in Israel. Through a thematic analysis of interviews, this study presents several overlapping characteristics of teachers who chose maker education as their way of teaching, to reveal the conditions under which maker educators are created naturally, and the features and attitudes that characterise them. Recognising these intersecting characteristics can enable schools to provide essential support systems for prospective maker educators.