Making Across the Curriculum

An up close image of a student opening a small booklet made from red and yellow paper.

Working in partnership with teachers and administrators from the Washington International School, the Agency by Design: Making Across the Curriculum project is exploring the ways in which maker-centered learning may be applied in a variety of curricular settings. Building off of the framework for maker-centered learning developed by the Origin Project research team, the Making Across the Curriculum project is investigating tools and strategies that support students and educators throughout the grade levels and across the content areas—while also considering how maker-centered learning may become more accessible to a wider breadth of young people.

The recent surge of interest in maker-centered learning has led many students, teachers, and school administrators to pursue the development of school-based design studios, makerspaces, and fablabs. While important thinking and learning takes place within makerspaces, the makerspace moniker can be seen to be limiting because it suggests that making happens within a particular environment, under particular conditions, with particular tools, to meet particular curricular ends. Rather than contain making to a designated “space” where such conditions exist, the true value of maker-centered learning lies in its ability to support students and teachers across the content areas.

Funders

The mission of The Edward E. Ford Foundation is to strengthen and support independent secondary schools and to challenge and inspire them to leverage their unique talents, expertise and resources to advance teaching and learning throughout this country by supporting and disseminating best practice, by supporting efforts to develop and implement models of sustainability, and by encouraging collaboration with other institutions.

Collaborators + Networks

Making Across the Curriciulum is working in partnership with teachers and administrators at Washington International School and its Professional Development Collaborative. The Professional Development Collaborative at Washington International School works to deepen and broaden DC-area educators’ capacity to inspire deep thinking in learners, to educate for global competence, and to share best practices with the community at large.