Cultivating Joy Through Making: A Joy-Centred Pedagogical Study of Makerspaces in Primary Education

This study examines how joy is cultivated in a primary school Makerspace through the implementation of joy-centred pedagogy. While innovative learning environments are often assumed to naturally generate positive emotional experiences, limited research has investigated the pedagogical conditions that intentionally foster joyful learning in primary education contexts. Grounded in experiential learning theory, positive psychology, self-determination theory, and maker education, the study adopts a design-based research approach to explore how structured learning experiences can support the emergence of joy during hands-on learning activities. The intervention was conducted in a primary school Makerspace where students engaged in collaborative project-based tasks involving design, experimentation, and iterative problem-solving. Data were collected through student surveys, classroom observations, and reflective artifacts and analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The findings reveal that joy was cultivated through four interrelated pedagogical conditions: meaningful challenge, collaborative interaction, learner autonomy, and opportunities for creative expression. These conditions enabled students to experience curiosity, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment while persisting in complex learning tasks. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that joy is not merely an emotional outcome of engaging activities but a pedagogically designable mechanism that supports meaningful participation and sustained engagement in learning environments. .