Introducing and Incorporating STEM Education for Young Children in Preschool: How do we start it?

Abstract

This paper aims to determine some aspects which are needed to be considered to start introducing and incorporating the concept of STEM Education for young children in preschools. McClure et al (2018) stated that giving young children with high quality early STEM experiences can support children's growth across the STEM areas as diverse as executive function and literacy development. However, there will be a first step to introduce and incorporate STEM Education for pre-schoolers. The purposive sampling technique was used in which 30 (thirty) preschool teachers in Indonesia were selected for this study. With the semi-constructed interview, the preschool teachers were asked about their perspectives toward STEM Education, their implementations, and the aspects which they need in term of implementing STEM Education in their classrooms. The result showed that the preschool teachers did not really understand enough about STEM education and its implementation in the classroom. In this study, the preschool teachers also mentioned some challenges which they have faced to implement STEM education in their classroom. Finally, teacher professional development and teacher training are needed for preschool teachers so that STEM Education can be applied well in early educational levels.