Dr Alison Buxton
BSc(hons), PhD
School of Education
Innovation Fellow, Director for Maker{Futures}
Director for Maker{Futures}
+44 114 222 8147
Full contact details
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
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Alison specialises in makerspaces and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, maths) education in primary schools and the early years. She has been involved in STEM education and public engagement, including at secondary level since the early 2000s. She has a particular interest in under-represented groups in engineering and has produced publications and guidance on equality and diversity for public engagement for the Centre for Science Education and the Royal Air Force.
Alison’s main interest is the development of makerspaces and maker education in UK primary schools. She is Programme Director for Maker{Futures}, a university priority project, which includes Maker{Move}, a mobile makerspace for schools, libraries and museums. As part of this work, Alison is currently developing a Maker{School} strand, including writing a maker curriculum for primary schools.
Alison’s current projects include Make a Maker{School} funded in part by the Garfield Weston Foundation that is developing curriculum, designing clubs and family engagement elements for the Maker{School} programme and WorldBuilders, funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation that is supporting professional development for primary teachers linking artistic elements of videogames with literacy.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Making a Maker{School}. Childhood Education, 100(3), 26-35. View this article in WRRO
- Seeking languagelessness: maker literacies mindsets to disrupt normative practices. Reading Research Quarterly. View this article in WRRO
- Makerspaces and the characteristics of effective learning in the early years. Journal of Early Childhood Research. View this article in WRRO
- Crystalising Maker Moments: Postdigital Storying Across Contexts. Postdigital Science and Education.
Conference proceedings papers
- Developing a Makerspace Learning and Assessment Framework. Developing a Makerspace Learning and Assessment Framework
Website content
- 'Do you need a designer?' Centring co-researchers as designers and makers from Reimagining TAS with DYP.
Preprints
- Trustworthy Autonomous Systems and Disabled Young People: A Critical Literature Review, Center for Open Science.
- Making a Maker{School}. Childhood Education, 100(3), 26-35. View this article in WRRO
- Professional activities and memberships
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Alison sits on the development advisory board for the international FIRST LEGO League programme. She is the only European member on the board which is made up of representatives from LEGO Education, The LEGO Foundation, FIRST and academics from several universities in the United States. She is also a special advisor for makerspaces at Vedanya International School in India.
Alison is the founder and Non-executive Director of STEAM Works, a non-profit organisation supporting STEAM and maker education in the UK. She developed the Primary Science Ambassador programme and piloted the 3D Printing in Primaries initiative. Although Alison is no longer involved in the day to day running of activities, she supports the organisation at board level.