Developing a Makerspace as a Vehicle for Partnership Building: The Role of Teacher Education Programs in Guiding Teachers, Librarians, and Communities

As schools consider new ways to enhance hands-on learning opportunities, many have focused on the emerging “Maker Movement.” As a means to support this trend, the authors share how the College of Education at a state university in northern New Jersey designed and facilitated a Makers Day event to help teacher candidates, teachers, and librarians, to develop insights into the activities for their own community based makerspaces. This article first describes the impetus for carrying out such activities, followed by a literature review, a description of how the event was designed, and our future plans for building on these activities.