Adaptation of the Use of the Makerspace Resources for the Improvement of the Education System in East Africa

Adopting new teaching and learning methods to improve learning outcomes is a critical concern in contemporary education. In line with this, the Makerspace movement, accompanied by Design Thinking, is being ingrained into teacher education as a strategy to enhance the performance of teacher educators and the quality of pre-service teachers. Borrowing from constructivism theory, Makerspaces provide opportunities for tutors, student teachers, and school learners to develop artifacts that aid and demonstrate their learning. This paper examines how Makerspace materials might be incorporated into teacher education and school classrooms, emphasizing strategies, empirical findings, and actionable recommendations derived from a study across four East African teacher preparation institutions. Findings from the concurrent mixed methods approach show that Makerspaces foster a culture of experimentation, iteration, and continuous learning, encouraging innovation, empowering teachers, and promoting the development of inclusive and genderresponsive resources. The study concludes that the initiative marks a revolutionary turn in education, aligning with global trends for inclusive and creative learning while offering a highly scalable pedagogical model for resource-constrained contexts. The report recommends sustained continuous professional development and the integration of competency-based assessment strategies to ensure long-term sustainability.

Design thinking, gender-responsive resources, makerspace, teacher educator

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