Early Childhood Educators’ Beliefs and Confidence Regarding STEM Education

Research Trends and Development Perspectives in Early Childhood Science Education: An Overview

“…Indeed, questions such as basic training and learning, attitudes and beliefs or teaching practices among Early Childhood Education teachers in the Physical and Biological Sciences are always important. This holds true as they are clearly related to matters of quality and effectiveness in young children's education [46][47][48][49].…”

STEM education in early primary years: Teachers’ views and confidence

“…Pre-school and first years of primary school provide the basis for future learning in STEM since, for example, science and mathematical skills acquired in early years predict later academic performance (Campbell et al, 2018). For example, inquiry-based learning activities/interventions facilitate STEM learning (Ješková et al, 2022;MacDonald et al, 2021).…”

“…Research into early childhood STEM is limited (Campbell et al, 2022), and with regard to teachers' views and confidence when implementing STEM education with early primary years there is a relatively small number of studies (e.g., MacDonald et al, 2021;Margot & Kettler, 2019;Wan et al, 2021). A recent review of 24 studies from 2009-2019 (Wan et al, 2021) reveals that teachers' views of STEM education in early years mainly regard hands-on experiences, and STEM as discrete subjects, while practical obstacles (e.g., resources, time, administrative support,) and concerns (e.g., children's interest, safety) are also expressed.…”

“…Research highlighted the importance of teacher confidence in the delivery of STEM in early years' settings (Larkin & Lowrie, 2022); while ECE teachers' beliefs towards STEM are relatively positive, selfefficacy and confidence are rather low (Campbell et al, 2018). MacDonald et al (2021) reveals Australian ECE teachers' beliefs and confidence regarding STEM education. Participants indicated positive perceptions-dispositions toward STEM education; for example, the majority of participants express the view that STEM activities can facilitate children's interest in STEM subjects when they attend upper education levels, and they believe pre-school help foster children's interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in later grades, and they believe it is appropriate to explore STEM topics from a young age.…”

“…Section A included 35 statements-items aiming to investigate teachers' views and confidence on STEM education in early primary years. The statements were adapted from MacDonald et al (2021). These statements aimed to explore teachers' views about STEM education (e.g., views about STEM benefits, about STEM equipment and materials) and teachers' confidence in implementing STEM in classrooms (e.g., confidence when they facilitate inquiry-based learning activities within science and/or mathematics topics).…”