The next frontier in Australian STEM education: Opportunities in early childhood education

 

Australia must make early STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education a national education priority. For nearly a decade, Australia has been committed to a National STEM School Education Strategy (2016-2026). This has aimed to provide baseline STEM skills and inspire students to further their interests in STEM and careers through school support, partnerships, and educational research.

 

However, there is a glaring weakness in the current Australian STEM agenda.

 

Data shows a relative absence of equitable access to early evidence-based STEM initiatives and professional learning for early childhood educators. While early childhood is not entirely overlooked — with noteworthy initiatives such as Let’s Count, Little Scientists and the Conceptual PlayLab. Indeed, it is comparatively lagging behind developments in primary, secondary and tertiary STEM education. Indeed, a STEM Education Initiatives Synthesis Report provided to Australian education ministers in 2021 included only one early childhood initiative out of 69, equating to just one point five per cent! With recent federal and state commitments to early childhood education and care, this paucity of attention to early childhood STEM seems out of step.

 

Given public recognition of the importance of early childhood education and STEM separately, there is a compelling case to draw the two together. Investment in early childhood STEM education is needed to ensure efforts in primary, secondary and tertiary STEM are fully consolidated as we strive to meet the goals of the national STEM education strategy.

 

Early competencies and positive experiences in STEM can be a predictor of later STEM achievement and help foster positive dispositions towards STEM. We cannot afford to overlook the early years, a time when learning is most rapid and lifelong trajectories are established.

 

In fact, early childhood should be considered the critical intervening window for STEM education if Australia is to increase girls’ participation and success. Young girls are at risk of developing negative feelings towards STEM before they commence kindergarten, with negative STEM dispositions becoming harder to change as children age. This is made all the more pernicious by widespread gender bias and stereotyping in STEM.

 

Saying that, investing in STEM learning in early childhood is no easy feat. The sector has faced ongoing issues with pay and working conditions and is uniquely diverse in terms of form and function. Another issue is that qualifications and STEM confidence vary considerably amongst early childhood educators.

 

Ensuring Australia’s early childhood educators have sufficient training and knowledge is vital for high-quality early STEM education. Recent research has found that educators with high levels of training have a more accurate understanding of how babies develop mathematical skills. This knowledge developed through high levels of training cannot be substituted by years of experience working in the field.

 

It is hard to find a dissenting voice in discussions regarding the societal importance of STEM. From higher-minded political rhetoric based on jobs, growth and future prosperity for specific commercial and educational initiatives, STEM is becoming increasingly emphasised in research, policy and public discourse. STEM is more than just an amalgamation of disciplines, rather it embodies vital 21st Century skills of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and citizenship.

 

As the scale of global challenges grows, we need capable STEM citizens and professionals to affect the best possible outcomes. Even as we write this article, political debates surrounding energy transitions are now pushing into the 2040s and 2050s; meaning that the decisions made by this generation will be the responsibility of our children.

While we won’t be able to fully judge the success of the National STEM School Education Strategy (2016-2026) for some years yet, the strategy has been supported by an array of policies, education initiatives, and research projects. There have been successful STEM projects, such as the Primary Connections science units and the Principals as STEM Leaders (PASL) professional development program that are now both supported by high-quality academic evidence.

 

However, gaps remain in Australia’s STEM education agenda with non-mainstream learners and rural and remote communities being comparatively underrepresented. There are also issues with research not keeping pace with the proliferation of initiatives, as the majority of STEM programs are not formally evaluated. A recent review of 337 female-oriented STEM initiatives found that only seven had publicly available evaluation data. So, it is imperative that STEM initiatives, particularly those focusing on the overlooked early childhood sectors, are supported by robust, co-designed evaluation frameworks open to public scrutiny.

 

High-quality and evidence-based early STEM education must be made a national priority and be recognised as the crucial starting point of a strong educational STEM trajectory. However, this is only possible if early childhood educators have access to affordable, sustained, and evidence-based professional learning

We call on the governments and relevant stakeholders to prioritise early childhood STEM education at a state and national level and to fund accessible, equitable, evidence-based professional learning and resources in early STEM education. Early STEM education is key in engaging the next generation in STEM.

 

It is evident that building educators’ and teachers’ skills, confidence and capabilities in early STEM is critical in ensuring the delivery of high-quality and evidence-based early STEM education for children.

 

Dr James Deehan is a Lecturer at Charles Sturt University. He has taught in primary schools in the Bathurst region and his research revolves around educational knowledge and practice.

 

Emma McGarrity is the Project Director at Little Scientists Australia — a not-for-profit STEM education initiative, funded and supported by the Australian Government. 

 

Lena Danaia is an Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University. Her research interests include science and technology education in primary and secondary schools and pre-service teacher education.

 

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