STEM learning ecologies: collaborative pedagogies for supporting transitions to school

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the pedagogical collaborations between early childhood teachers in kindergarten (4 years) and the first year of school (5 years) in one Australian State. We report on a year-long project that brought these early childhood teachers together as we asked them to design STEM learning ecologies that would not only support new learning, but also provide a context for a meaningful transition from kindergarten to the first year of school. A transition that went beyond familiarisation with the new school environment to creating reciprocal pedagogical collaborations. In their collective discussions the teachers indicated that they wanted to encourage children's agency. This provoked them to think creatively about their pedagogical designs. Being part of the project encouraged collaborative pedagogical conversations between all participants around children's voice and advocacy, the practices of noticing and generating questions as the basis of investigations and extending play-based inquiries from the kindergarten into the school context. This paper explores the ways in which these pedagogical encounters occurred. In the process, the teachers reflected on the shift from a traditional view of transition as being ‘school ready’ to one in which pedagogical conversations and documentation were elevated to focus on innovative designs for learning.

KEYWORDS:

• STEM learning
• transitions
• children’s agency
• pedagogy

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Pennsylvania STEM Network, Southwest Region, ‘Long Range Plan (2009–2018), Plan Summary’, (2009) http://www.cmu.edu/gelfand/documents/stem-survey-report-cmu-iu1.pdf.

2 DfE (SA) – Learning Improvement Section: Joanne Haynes, Kym Nadebaum, Christine Stephenson, Michael Austin.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department for Education (South Australia).