Traditional Tales, Untraditionally Told builds on the research into languages and multilingualism of Dr Sabine Little and the work of Maker{Futures}, who provide resources, support and workshops for early years settings, schools, libraries, museums and community spaces who want to develop their maker education provision.
It is funded by the Social Sciences (ESRC IAA) Impact Acceleration Account, which is allocated to projects that have the potential to create research impact in flexible, responsive and creative ways. The Traditional Tales, Untraditionally Told project is supported by our Sheffield partner schools and Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield Libraries.
Dr. Sabine Little, Senior Lecturer In Languages Education in the School of Education, University of Sheffield is interested in links between language, identity, and belonging, and the role of multilingualism in society. She works both with families, schools, and public spaces such as libraries, to explore what it means to grow up multilingual. She has developed and worked on a number of projects that explore multilingualism and identity as a social justice issue, seeking to push against the deficit model of English as an Additional Language. Sabine works with teachers teaching in multilingual classrooms at UK and international level, providing continued professional development, and is the Director of Education (School of Education).
Principal Investigator: Dr Sabine Little, email: s.little@sheffield.ac.uk
Liz Jansen is the Traditional Tales Project Manager and Maker{Futures} Programme Officer in the School of Education, University of Sheffield. Liz has created the Traditional Tales, Untraditionally Told website, videos and educational resources with the support of schools, libraries and multilingual families. Liz has over 30 years' experience as a teacher and school leader for children aged 4 to 11, in the UK and overseas. She works with schools, libraries and community spaces to set up and support the implementation of maker provision, with a specialism in early years. Liz is passionate about practical education in schools and is keen to bring her love of STEAM to all settings. She believes that adopting a Maker Mindset improves children's critical thinking and team-building skills and enables them to acquire and apply knowledge and skills through independent work.
Saman J Qarni is a Programme Officer and Research Assistant at Maker{Futures} in the School of Education, University of Sheffield. She has a background in manufacturing and electronic engineering and leads on a range of electronics, coding, robotics and digital programmes for schools, libraries and museums. Her research focuses on multilingual making in communities. She has organised and delivered bilingual engineering and coding workshops and is interested in empowering children to see themselves as makers and creators.
Co-Investigator: Dr Alison Buxton is Co-founder and Director of Maker{Futures} and a Senior Innovation Fellow specialising in Makerspace Education in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. She has over 20 years of experience in developing and delivering STEAM and maker education through non-profit organisations, universities, schools and libraries. Much of her current work centres around the Maker{School} programme where she works closely with educators to develop robust approaches to developing maker pedagogies and practice. She has written several practical maker books and sits on international advisory boards for LEGO Education, FIRST LEGO League and Vedanya International School, India
Co-researcher: Dr. Angela Colvert, Lecturer in Education and Deputy Director of Innovation, School of Education, University of Sheffield has a particular expertise in co-designing digital games to support learning (with teachers, children, game-creators and artists).
Co-researcher: Dr. Sophie Rutter, Senior Lecturer in Information Management and Deputy Programme Coordinator MSc Information Management,
Information School, University of Sheffield is currently working on a project that aims to create an agenda for embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in usability testing.
With special thanks to all the teachers, pupils, and families from St Marie's Primary, St Joseph's Primary, Arbouthorne Primary, Prince Edward's Primary, Barnsley and Sheffield Libraries, who helped develop and test the programme.
And finally, a big shout out to Kat Greenacre, Maker{Futures} Programme Administrator and Digital Media Interns, Xiaoyu Feng and Charlotte Clarke, School of Education, University of Sheffield, for their support in filming, editing and website creation.