Hungry for more: early childhood educators’ perspectives on STEM education, teaching and professional development

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, educational policies and curricula recommend that young children experience STEM learning opportunities within Early Childhood (EC) settings. Despite greater demands placed on EC educators, their opinions on STEM have seldom been sought. This study investigated EC educators’ (1) interest in STEM education (2) opinions about the appropriateness of EC STEM education (3) ratings of their STEM self-efficacy and (4) STEM professional development preferences. An anonymous online questionnaire was distributed in the Republic of Ireland, with 198 complete responses received. The respondents, many of whom were highly qualified and experienced educators, reported being interested in STEM and felt it was important, though notably, some believed only for older children. Two-thirds felt their preservice education, which included mathematics (43%); science (30%); technology (17%); and engineering (10%), had not prepared them to support STEM. Knowledge of STEM policy was also limited. Despite this, high levels of STEM confidence were reported. Challenges reported included a lack of resources, support and guidance, and STEM knowledge. 96% of respondents expressed interest in attending EC STEM professional development and a variety of approaches to learning were identified. Implications for policy and practice are suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• STEM
• early childhood
• professional development
• early STEM teaching
• STEM education

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to sincerely thank all those who gave their time so generously to participate in the research. We would also like to thank the EC organisations who disseminated research invitations to prospective participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sandra O’Neill

Sandra O'Neill is an Assistant Professor in Early Education at Dublin City University's Institute of Education. She is the founder and chair of the Early Childhood STEAM network. Her research focuses broadly on STEM and more specifically on early mathematics and the use of technology as a pedagogical tool.

Córa Gillic

Córa Gillic is an Assistant Professor in Early Education at Dublin City University's Institute of Education. Her research chiefly focuses on early mathematics education in early childhood settings, as well as concentrating on STEM more broadly.

Nicola O’Reilly

Nicola O'Reilly is a lecturer in Early Education and a PhD candidate at Dublin City University's Institute of Education. Her research focus is on STEM, with her PhD research focussing on STEM learning through sociodramatic play in early childhood.