The conference particularly welcomes contributions addressing the transformative dimensions of educational making (entrepreneurship, sustainability, critical thinking, school development, and interdisciplinarity).

The first Making Teachers, Shaping Futures: Maker Education in Teacher Training conference will take place from 5–6 October 2026 at the University of Education Weingarten.

Submission (Abstract) deadline: April 17, 2026

Contribution formats:

• regular paper
• symposium
• poster
• hands-on workshop

In consideration of the potential of maker education and the current status of research, we invite to a two-day conference to bring together researchers, teacher educators, prospective and in-service teachers, and makerspace practitioners to explore new developments in educational making.

Another central aim of the conference is to launch a European network dedicated to maker education in teacher education, creating a sustainable platform for collaboration, joint research, and shared innovation.

Research on the integration of maker education into teacher education is growing but remains fragmented. The majority of maker education interventions are of a short duration, locally bounded, and methodologically heterogeneous (Quintana-Ordorika et al., 2024). Evidence regarding changes in instructors‘ attitudes towards maker education, curriculum integration, and student development remains limited, with inconsistent measurement of outcomes beyond self-reports and short-term performance tasks. 

Studies on school-based makerspaces similarly indicate the presence of promising effects on students‘ engagement and problem-solving (Rouse & Rouse, 2022). However, these studies also highlight a paucity of robust evidence for best practices in formal settings, particularly with regard to the manner in which teachers translate makerspace pedagogies back into ordinary classrooms. 

The incorporation of educational makerspaces into teacher education programmes has been shown to highlight the challenges prospective teachers perceive, including tool fluency, orchestration and assessment. In response to these challenges, prospective teachers have been shown to develop coping strategies, which underscore the need for scaffolds that connect making activities with curricular aims and assessment literacies (Max et al., 2024).

At the policy horizon, the European Commission JRC analyses position makerspaces as catalysts for 21st-century competences and cross-disciplinary learning. However, the JRC also cautions that institutional uptake requires clearer models for teacher development and school–university partnerships (European Commission. Joint Research Centre, 2019)

Within this landscape, several guiding themes are salient for the conference: 

(1) Critical thinking: Maker activities show promise in developing 21st-century skills including critical thinking (Hughes & Kumpulainen, 2021). The process of making can cultivate inquiry, evidence use, and problem decomposition. However, studies examining teacher education seldom operationalise critical thinking with validated instruments. Furthermore, these studies fail to trace how teacher candidates appropriate inquiry norms (hypothesis making, testing, critique) across courses and placements. There is scope for designs that incorporate explicit epistemic practices (e.g., testing claims, handling uncertainty) into maker tasks and evaluate the resulting instructional moves in practicum. 

(2) Sustainability: Studies have indicated a strong potential for the implementation of maker-related initiatives to promote ecological and social sustainability. These initiatives have also been found to motivate teachers through the provision of authentic design challenges. However, empirical research in the field of teacher education that links maker tasks to measurable sustainability competencies and long-term teaching practice remains limited. 

(3) Entrepreneurship: It has been established that maker activities are linked to entrepreneurship mindsets and creativity in higher education and authentic problem contexts. However, the research rarely follows teacher candidates into practicum or early career phases to examine how entrepreneurial competencies are enacted in school projects, assessment, or community partnerships (Weng, 2022). There is a paucity of comparative studies that specify which maker project genres and which supervisory practices actually foster opportunity recognition, value creation, and ethical entrepreneurship in teacher education. 

(4) Interdisciplinarity: Although interdisciplinarity is central to the promise of Maker Education, research shows that implementing it in schools and universities is highly challenging. Disciplinary curricula, assessment systems, institutional structures and technocentric maker cultures can all constrain cross-disciplinary collaboration. Consequently, Maker Education is plagued by ongoing tensions between openness and formalisation, necessitating systematic research into sustainable interdisciplinary models.

(5) School development: Research indicates that maker education has great potential for school development. However, significant barriers constrain its broader adoption, such as underdeveloped best practices for makerspace teachers, a more superficial understanding of making as mere tinkering rather than substantive learning, and unfavourable institutional conditions. Assessment poses particular challenges, as the dynamic and collaborative nature of maker learning resists conventional evaluation. Furthermore, curriculum integration is more difficult at secondary than primary level due to existing constraints on the curriculum. Additionally, equity-oriented approaches to makerspace design are still in their infancy (Rouse & Rouse, 2021).

(6) Creative Learning: Creative Learning is grounded in the idea that people learn best when they are actively engaged in imagining, making, and creating projects that are personally meaningful to them and shareable with others. Drawing on constructionist traditions, Creative Learning emphasizes learning as a playful, social, and iterative process, in which learners continuously imagine, create, share, and reflect (Resnick, 2017).

From this perspective, maker education is not only about tools, technologies, or artifacts, but about cultivating learning environments that support projects, passion, peers, and play.

Research in teacher education has often focused on activities and outcomes rather than on the underlying learning principles and cultures that make such experiences powerful. There is therefore a need to investigate how Creative Learning principles shape the design of maker-based teacher education, the role of educators as facilitators and co-learners, and the development of teacher agency, creativity, and professional identity over time.

In the context of above the above mentioned guiding themes, submissions may address (but are not limited to) the following themes:

• Making, Learning & Critical Thinking
  • Active Problem Solving
  • Learning from Mistakes
  • Deepening Tinkering Practices
  • Knowledge Transfer to Schools
  • Evidence-Based Design
  • Handling Project Uncertainty
    
    

• Sustainability in Making
  • Circular & Green Making
  • Social Impact Projects
  • Authentic Design Challenges
  • Long-term Environmental Teaching Practices
    
    

• Entrepreneurship and Making
  • Creating Real-World Value
  • Entrepreneurial Teacher Mindsets
  • Ethical Innovation
  • School-Community Partnerships
    
    

• Interdisciplinarity & Challenges
  • Combining School Subjects
  • The Grading Paradox
  • Pedagogy over Technology
  • Sustainable Space Management
    
    

• Digital Competences
  • AI and Digital Tools
  • Digital Literacy through Making
  • Computational Thinking Skills
  • Smart Objects and Coding
  • Managing Digital Transformation
    
    

• School Development & Equity
  • Accessible Maker Design
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Teacher as Facilitator
  • Secondary School Integration
  • Leading School Change
    
    

• Assessment & Support
  • Visual & Portfolio Assessment
  • Mentoring Support Structures
  • Teacher Scaffolding Frameworks
    
    

• Creative Learning
  • Creative Learning–inspired maker experiences (imagine–create–share–reflect)
  • Enacting projects, passion, peers, and play in teacher education
  • Teachers as facilitators and co-learners in maker contexts
  • Technology as a construction material for meaningful projects
  • Learning through iteration and unexpected outcomes
  • Creative Learning as a bridge between making, curriculum, assessment, and school culture
  • Reimagining making practices, curriculum design, assessment, and school culture through Creative Learning
    
    

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts (max. 5000 characters including spaces) should be submitted. Submissions will open soon. Please indicate your preferred format (paper, symposium, poster, or workshop). Submissions will be peer-reviewed by the scientific committee.

For empirical research papers: Please outline research questions, theoretical framework, methodology, and key findings (or expected results).

For practice-based contributions, case studies, and workshops: Please describe context, aims, session structure, and expected learning outcomes.

 

Important Dates

Submission of abstracts by 17 April 2026

Notification of acceptance 04 May 2026

Conference dates 05-06 October 2026

Please submit your submission via the following link:

https://www.conftool.net/making-teachers-2026/ 

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The conference is organised within the framework of the Erasmus+ project Critical Making, which focuses on strengthening maker education in teacher training through European collaboration, research, and practice-based innovation https://critical-making.eu

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References

Cheng, Y.-W., Chen, C.-H., & Chen, N.-S. (2025). Adopting Maker Education: A Comparative Analysis of Intentions Between In-Service and Pre-Service STEM Teachers. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-025-10547-w

European Commission. Joint Research Centre. (2019). Makerspaces for education and training: Exploring future implications for Europe. Publications Office. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/946996

Hughes, J. & Kumpulainen K. (2021). Editorial: Maker Education: Opportunities and Challenges. Frontiers in Education, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.798094

Max, A., Lukas, S., & Weitzel, H. (2024). The pedagogical makerspace: Learning opportunity and challenge for prospective teachers’ growth of TPACK. British Journal of Educational Technology, 55(1), 208–230.

Quintana-Ordorika, A., Garay-Ruiz, U., & Portillo-Berasaluce, J. (2024). The Impact of Using Collaborative Online International Learning during the Design of Maker Educational Practices by Pre-Service Teachers. Sustainability, 16(3), 1222. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031222

Rouse, R., & Rouse, A. G. (2022). Taking the maker movement to school: A systematic review of preK-12 school-based makerspace research. Educational Research Review, 35, 100413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2021.100413

Weng, X. (2022). Promoting student creativity and entrepreneurship through real-world problem-based maker education. Thinking Skills and Creativity.