"STEAM Teaching Is Good Teaching": How Early Childhood Teachers Conceptualize STEAM Instruction and Children's Social Emotional Competencies

• In Event: How Teachers Teach, Conceptualize, and Talk About Integrated STEM

Abstract

STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) instruction has begun forging a path into the early childhood education (ECE) classroom. Early childhood is a critical developmental time in which children cultivate social emotional competencies (SEC), supporting the accomplishment of future developmental milestones in and out of school. Disparities exist between ECE STEAM professional development (PD) and the expectation to deliver content teachers are unprepared to teach. This qualitative case study examined how ten early childhood teachers from STEAM-focused schools conceptualize STEAM instruction and what aspects of STEAM instruction are essential for developing students’ SEC. Results indicated that ECE teachers were closely aligned in their conceptualization of STEAM instruction based on the components of the STEAM in ECE conceptual model.

Author

• Amanda Elizabeth Bennett, Clemson University