Agency by Design Oakland is the Bay Area-based action research component for the Agency by Design research project. Agency by Design is an exploration of the promises, practices, and pedagogies of maker-centered learning, based at Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Since the project’s inception in 2012, cohorts of Oakland-based teachers have provided classroom laboratories to explore emergent Agency by Design ideas. From this work grew a local effort to support educators and schools interested in developing maker-centered learning practices.
Rather than provide a blueprint for creating a maker space or purchasing tools, we focus on the thinking and learning that takes place in maker-centered contexts. Agency by Design Oakland team members provide professional development support through workshops, coaching, and grants to schools and youth-serving organizations. We are committed to operating through a lens of equity, and we aim to bring this lens to all of our work. It is our priority to serve underserved student populations and communities of color.
Check out the videos below to see inside the classroom and view our amazing educators at work. And visit our Pictures of Practice page to learn more about teacher-led inquiry and maker-centered learning research.
STORIES OF MAKER EMPOWERMENT
IGNITE TALK: REINA CABEZAS
IGNITE TALK: ED CRANDALL
IGNITE TALK: ROXY MARTÍNEZ
IGNITE TALK: CICELY DAY
Culmination Event 2017