Understanding Secondary Inservice Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices of Implementing Integrated STEM Education

Abstract

Integrated STEM (i-STEM) education is attracting attention from educators and researchers worldwide to improve student achievement and engagement in STEM subjects and encourage the take-up of STEM-related careers. Multiple models of STEM integration have been proposed, and how i-STEM is interpreted and enacted in school contexts appears to vary considerably. This article reports the perceptions and practices of a group of Australian secondary school teachers with a commitment to implementing i-STEM in their schools but who have not received any specific professional development in this domain. Through individual, qualitative interviews, the study revealed considerable variation in how the teachers interpreted and enacted i-STEM in their schools. Teachers tended to develop learning activities that prioritized the subject area of their particular expertise and that had only tenuous links to mathematics. They considered i-STEM more engaging for their students than traditional subjects but were constrained in their planning by their various school regimes concerning assessment, curricula, and timetables. These structural and systemic impediments represent a core challenge for STEM teachers and teaching as greater numbers of schools and teachers in Australia are expected to implement some form of i-STEM education. Insights from this study point to the importance of developing support structures that allow for variations in context, as well as teacher interest and experience, yet that embrace a coherent and cohesive view of i-STEM, in the absence of a formal STEM curriculum and available professional development opportunities