Making at Home: Interest-Driven Practices and Supportive Relationships in Minoritized Homes

• In Event: Moving Making to Online and Homes Spaces: Lessons for Maker Education

Abstract

Objectives or purposes: Although much educational research focuses on how to support maker practices in the context of traditional formal and informal educational environments (Sheridan et al., 2014; Halverson et al., 2014), we know surprisingly little about the kinds of making that are part of the everyday lives of minoritized youth. This absence of research risks overlooking productive learning opportunities to meaningfully connect maker practices to real-world pathways.

Theoretical framework: This work extends research on the connected learning model (Ito et al., 2020), a theoretical framework that locates effective learning across contexts, consistent with sociocultural theories of learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Rogoff et al.,1995). This model uncovers the ways in which effective learning happens at the intersection of three elements: interests, relationships, and opportunities, acting as multiple entry points for the learner.

Methods and Data Sources: In this paper, we analyze data from 52 open-ended surveys and 20 semi-structured interviews to gain high-level and in-depth understandings about minoritized participants (ages 9-13) and their diverse maker practices and experiences. 90% self-identified either as Black, African American, Hispanic, multiracial Black, or multiracial African American. These participants engaged in a free summer maker camp and were introduced to various hands-on projects, such as e-textiles and video game design. The 10-question survey asked participants about their making and crafting activities. We analyzed the 20 transcribed interviews using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2012).

Results: Overall, findings demonstrate that youth participated in a diverse range of interest-driven maker activities in their homes. The authors describe youth motivations for engaging with making, revealing evidence of intergenerational support as parents and other family members—particularly grandparents, uncles, and aunts—provide access, co-create, collaborate, teach, and encourage youth to make, thus supporting youths’ developing identities as makers of things. The authors discuss design implications for connecting existing maker practices and supportive relationships to future academic, civic, and economic learning opportunities, and finally, offer suggestions for future research.

Significance: This paper finds the ways in which family members can be central points of connection to making activities and opportunities. The authors summarize the types of projects in which participating minoritized youth engaged and their key motivations for making, including drawing inspiration from artifacts, drawing inspiration from making processes, making for fun, and making to share with others. The authors also show how particular kinds of family relationships supported youth with making, such as making visible any produced artifacts and their production process, connecting youth to resources, explicitly teaching youth, and making alongside youth. Finally, the paper illustrates potential entry points to academic, civic, and economic opportunities and learning pathways as a result of engaging in interest-driven maker practices with the aid of supportive relationships in the home.

Authors

• Kylie A. Peppler, University of California - Irvine

• R. Mishael Sedas, University of California - Irvine

• Maggie Dahn, University of California - Irvine