Interactions with students fill Trent School of Education demonstrator Lisa Noble’s heart with joy. Answering the question ‘why’ makerspaces matter for young learners, she says simply: “We reach more kids.”  

“What is really interesting about makerspaces, is that we’ve always had them. We’ve just called them different things,” says Noble. Throughout generations, these spaces would commonly be known as home economics, industrial arts, or design and tech spaces.  

Learning new pedagogies through creativity

While ushering in a new group of teacher candidates, the refreshed Makerspace Lab in Otonabee College launched in September 2023 with Noble making the lab an open space for students to be creative and enhance teaching pedagogy and practice. The space is also one where students can come to simply unwind. Hosting lunch-time drop-in sessions with slow-stitching or making light up circuit cards for seasonal occasions, students from around Otonabee College can engage with coding, computational thinking tools, and creating both digital and physical artifacts. 

“We’re really lucky here at Trent because on the fourth floor of Bata (Library) we have the Odette Critical Making Studio, which has a digital sewing machine, audio video equipment, Cricut cutter. So, we really have a range of digital and analog tools here at Trent.”  

Acknowledging the challenge of getting adults to break away from their academic obligations in a professional program, Noble has stressed to students the positive well-being outcomes from creating. She also notes that by creating the time and space for (teacher candidates) to decompress themselves, they are then able to take this into their future classrooms.  

“For me, it really comes down to community and storytelling. If we can offer people different tools and ways to convey their story or the story they want to tell, that’s one of my biggest goals in this space. When we are thinking about those transferrable skills that are now in the curriculum – that problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, communication… that’s what a makerspace gives you.” 

Listen to Lisa Noble speak about the importance of Makerspaces in schools.