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Early Childhood Teacher Beliefs About STEAM Education After a Professional Development Conference

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Abstract

The success of new pedagogies depends on teachers’ beliefs about what they entail, and the promises and challenges they hold. This study uses a mixed-methods approach to understand the beliefs of early childhood teachers who attended a professional development conference on STEAM teaching, an emerging approach that combine STEM disciplines and the arts through problem-based learning to engage students and push deep thinking. Data from a post-conference survey (N = 41) and follow-up interviews (N = 4) showed teachers varied in their beliefs about STEAM and the supports they needed to implement it successfully. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Aamena Saleh and Sangho Pang for their contributions this study. This research would not have be possible without their diligent data collection and management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, Clemson University, 409-C Tillman Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634-0715, USA

    Faiza M. Jamil

  2. College of Education, Clemson University, 407-F Tillman Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634-0715, USA

    Sandra M. Linder

  3. College of Education, Clemson University, 401-A Tillman Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634-0715, USA

    Dolores A. Stegelin

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  1. Faiza M. Jamil
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  2. Sandra M. Linder
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  3. Dolores A. Stegelin
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Correspondence to Faiza M. Jamil.

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Jamil, F.M., Linder, S.M. & Stegelin, D.A. Early Childhood Teacher Beliefs About STEAM Education After a Professional Development Conference. Early Childhood Educ J 46, 409–417 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0875-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0875-5

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