Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

Children quickly grow physically, emotionally, cognitively and socially and develop essential knowledge and skills in the early years. During this period, what children learn will significantly influence their development and set the foundation for their success in education and later life.

Young children naturally explore the world around them, interact with their environment and are interested in many things, whether splashing in puddles, picking up worms, creating mud pies, building structures or playing with toys. They will ask questions, figure out how things function and have a natural curiosity. Therefore, nurturing their real-world experiences and play can form part of their STEM education.

STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach incorporating four subjects, i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Current research also suggests including a fifth subject, art, i.e. STEAM (Perales, F. J. & Aróstegui, J. L. 2021). Introducing STEM concepts in early childhood is crucial for a child’s development for the following reasons:

• It helps them better understand the modern world around them, which can help build confidence and self-esteem and enable them to thrive.
• It establishes vital lifelong skills, such as critical thinking, language, communication, collaboration and problem-solving.
• It provides children with a robust foundation to help them prepare for learning these subjects more formally at a later stage in their education (Leung, W. 2023).
• It can help increase their chances of ongoing academic success if they have knowledge of these subjects from early on.
• It helps children to develop new ways of learning, enhances literacy and numeracy, and promotes creativity and curiosity.
• It provides a fun and engaging way for children to learn these subjects.

Promoting STEM Learning at East Prescot Road

STEM activities consist of planned and unplanned activities and a mixture of child-initiated and adult-led play. We encourage our children to engage with Mathematics in the following ways: 

• Providing STEM toys to combine fun with learning. Toys may include science kits, building sets, magnetic tiles, number sets
• Incorporating STEM learning into everyday activities, e.g. teaching about maths when measuring ingredients for baking or cooking, or spotting, identifying and counting wildlife on a walk for science.
• Asking open-ended questions to get children to observe, think and reflect on what is going on. For example, if a child is building a tower with building blocks, a good question may be, “What do you think you will need to keep it from falling over?”.
• Using found/reclaimed resources and materials, e.g. toilet roll tubes, cardboard boxes, lollipop sticks and plastic bottles, to build structures and teach young children about engineering and how things work. 
• Running safe investigations to teach children about science. 
• Using online interactive games and quizzes to teach young children about science, technology, engineering and maths theory
• Using STEM storybooks and activity books to support learning
• Allowing children to have time to engage in their own play with minimal adult interference, but provide appropriate resources and an environment for them to have plenty of opportunities indoors and outdoors. 

Overcoming Gender Stereotypes in STEM

Gender bias can lead to gender stereotypes, “a generalised view or preconception about attributes or characteristics, or the roles that are or ought to be possessed by, or performed by, women and men” (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights). These stereotypes can be harmful, as they limit children’s potential, which can be damaging later in life (Nursery World).

Women are underrepresented in STEM fields, with only 29.4% of women making up the STEM workforce and 31% of females enrolling on STEM courses. As children grow, gender biases and stereotypes can influence the opportunities and activities they have access to, what they learn and how they develop. Parents, caregivers and educators can inadvertently reinforce these stereotypes by speaking differently to boys and girls, having different expectations of them and assuming they want to do certain activities, e.g. boys want to play with trucks and climb trees, but girls want to play with dolls inside.

Gender stereotypes in STEM education can mean girls missing out on opportunities later on in life and boys steered in a direction that is not right for them as individuals. At East Prescot Road, we tackle gender bias and stereotypes by encouraging girls and boys equally in STEM activities by:

• Teaching children about STEM, why it is important, and the careers available regardless of gender.
• Sharing stories about men and women in STEM so they can potentially see themselves in these roles.
• Asking those in STEM careers to visit the setting or take children on outings to meet male and female role models in STEM.
• Creating a gender-neutral learning environment, i.e. providing a mix of various toys, games and activities and guiding their learning by using provocations.  
• Providing materials, resources and books that describe males and females in STEM fields rather than outdated ones that reinforce gender stereotypes.
• Allowing children the freedom to choose their own interests and activities and the things they want to play with, regardless of whether girls choose construction toys or if boys choose dolls. It should be their choice, and adults must not force them to play with something because of their gender.
• Being mindful of not inadvertently reinforcing gender stereotypes, i.e. “Are you sure you want to choose that toy as science is not really for girls”.
• Trying to include STEM in activities where boys and girls choose ‘stereotypical’ toys or games. For example, if girls want to play with dolls, it may be an idea to suggest they build a pram from materials and tools.
• Choosing toys, games and activities to encourage boys and girls to play together where they can learn collaboratively.