The high level of institutional autonomy in Europe makes it difficult to hold any comparison in the primary education area. Nevertheless, there is one common feature: While a big part of the curriculum is set on reading, writing and counting, very few efforts are put into science and technology education.
This fact is quite shocking given the amount of benefits an early STEM education provides pupils. Including science teaching from primary education (and even in pre-school!) will have a huge impact in the process of becoming scientifically literate. Early contact with scientific phenomena will help pupils better comprehend the scientific concepts that will be later studied in a formal way as well as to acquire a set of skills that will be further used in secondary and tertiary education. Consequentiallly, students will broad their possibilities in the access to future careers and improve their cultural scientific background.
In fact, pre-school and primary education are the best stages to set up the foundations of a science related education. Because of their innate curiosity, children welcome all types of science activities. Therefore, it is essential to embrace that opportunity to encourage them to learn science. On top of all, attitudes towards science are formed during upper-primary, lower-secondary years. If, during those years, kids grow to think of those subjects as “difficult” and “boring” it will be difficult to engage them afterwards.
- Do you think there is a lack of support to teaching STEM in primary schools? If so, which are the reasons?
- Which are the main issues faced in early STEM education?
- Which are the main benefits of an early STEM education?
- Should ICT education be included in early schooling? Have you got any experience on it?