Fostering Creativity in School Makerspaces: Principles and a Framework for Assessing Creativity-Supportive Design

Abstract

School-based makerspaces are increasingly recognized as powerful contexts for fostering creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving. However, educational research on creativity has often prioritized individual traits or final products, underemphasizing the environmental conditions - physical, social, emotional, and cognitive - that shape creative engagement. This paper argues for re-centering Press, the environmental dimension of Rhodes’ Four Ps model, as a central driver of creativity in educational makerspaces. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature from creativity studies, learning sciences, and educational psychology, the paper identifies six interrelated principles that characterize creativity-supportive learning environments: a supportive socio-emotional atmosphere, learner autonomy, inspirational stimuli, collaborative culture, teacher support and guidance, and equitable access to technology and resources. These principles are synthesized into the Creative Educational Environment Assessment Model, a prospective conceptual framework designed to evaluate and enhance makerspaces in ways that are context-responsive, equitable, and pedagogically robust. The model emphasizes process as well as product, incorporates intellectual resources as a dimension of creative support, and situates teacher capacity as a systemic driver. Intended as both a theoretical scaffold and a practical tool, the framework offers researchers, educators, and policymakers actionable guidance for transforming makerspaces into environments where creativity is structurally supported and democratically accessible.