Teacher Experiences in a Community-Based Rural Partnership: Recognizing Community Assets

Partnerships in STEAM: How Collaborating with STEAM Experts Impacts K-12 Teachers’ Abilities to Implement STEAM Lessons in the Classroom

“…Teachers and administrators both described situations in which teachers displayed more confidence in their abilities to use their skills in STEAM, such as coding, 3D printing, and interdisciplinary instruction, such that even when the Innovator was unable to participate in classroom instruction, teachers were able to answer student questions and address technical issues. Scholars have previously concluded that teacher professional development which fosters community partnerships can further elevate teacher confidence [7,8,10,11,13,16]. For example, in Paradise and colleagues [11], the study indicates that teachers' partnerships with community members expanded their understanding of engineering concepts.…”

“…Scholars have previously concluded that teacher professional development which fosters community partnerships can further elevate teacher confidence [7,8,10,11,13,16]. For example, in Paradise and colleagues [11], the study indicates that teachers' partnerships with community members expanded their understanding of engineering concepts. While GoSTEAM focuses on STEAM generally, findings from focus groups and interviews with teachers and administrators across Years 1-4 indicated similar sentiments, suggesting that the impact of partnerships can expand across fields.…”

“…Commonly, teachers indicated Innovators helped them see where STEAM connects "day to day". Drawing connections between STEAM, district standards, and real-world aspects is often referenced in the previous literature, in which scholars found that the collaboration between community partners and teachers often encouraged teachers to make these associations [2,[6][7][8]10,11,19,22]. In GoSTEAM, teachers frequently described Innovators as a "co-teacher" in the classroom, providing a unique perspective to STEAM concepts with "different ways of looking at a problem".…”

“…In general, school-community partnerships can generate resources that schools would not otherwise have access to, expose teachers to new pedagogical methods, and provide real-world connections to enhance student learning [7,8,10,11]. Teacher professional development can also facilitate partnerships between community organizations and schools [3,6].…”

A Conceptual Model for Engineering Educators in Rural Places: Critical Reflection and Engagement

“…This presents a challenge for schools who might rely on this type of funding source to provide professional development to their teachers. Paradise et al (2022) argued for the importance of being able to work with other teachers in rural schools to build teaching engineering self-efficacy and working with community partners and industries to connect engineering to the classroom, which may be one strategy to overcome some of the challenges related to teacher professional development. Overall, this literature on teacher professional development often points to the importance of rural teachers having access to opportunities and resources to become more comfortable with integrating STEM, particularly engineering, into their classrooms.…”