Professor Hamsa Venkat:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and the committee for this invitation to join them today. I hold the Naughton chair in early years and primary STEM education at Dublin City University. As a result, my input will focus on issues relating to STEM education provision and access for younger children.

In recent years, STEM education has become a high priority for governments and educational policymakers around the world for reasons that are well-rehearsed. There are jobs in the STEM economy and this leads to the need to close the gender gaps in participation. There is also a need for STEM-literate citizens. However, what constitutes STEM education is still poorly understood. At one extreme, STEM is simply the full discipline of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. At the other extreme, there is a fully transdisciplinary and integrated STEM that draws on content, skills and competences from all four disciplines and often other disciplines, as needed, for effective real-world problem-solving. In our work with teachers, we take the view that effective STEM education involves both, namely, supporting strong disciplinary awareness of the STEM subjects and supporting experiences of integrated STEM.

Most input to this joint committee over the past few weeks has focused on second and third level education. I am still greeted with some surprise when I say that my focus is on STEM in early years and primary settings. This response is unsurprising given that STEM education is poorly understood in a culture where proclamations of someone not being a maths person or a science person remain common. Yet, the evidence shows consistently that if we do not build confidence and enthusiasm for STEM-related learning early, by second level, the negativity and gendered stereotypes the committee has already heard about relating to STEM have already set in. The Growing Up in Ireland surveys show that attitudes towards subjects have taken form at primary level. There is also evidence from early years education showing that good-quality STEM education is linked to significantly higher enthusiasm and motivation for science in later life and is predictive of later academic achievement in mathematics knowledge and skills. The AISTEAR curriculum framework for early childhood and the new primary curriculum framework both address this concern head on with the insertion of STEM as an integrated curriculum area. This is welcome but teachers' lack of confidence with STEM subjects and their unfamiliarity with integrated STEM will require concerted systemic efforts to realise the promise that STEM education holds.

I will deal with the curriculum and policy level supports while Dr. Leahy will speak to the teacher level supports that are also critical for good-quality STEM provision. At curriculum level, early childhood settings and schools need more guidance on time allocations for mathematics, science and technology alongside time for integrated STEM projects. In primary schools, mathematics has dedicated weekly time but science, technology and engineering have a relatively small monthly allocation. Given the evidence we have of science time being whittled down in the past few years in primary schools, a weekly science allocation and at least termly incorporation of integrated STEM projects would be very useful.

There are wonderful examples of integrated STEM teaching in Ireland at early years and primary level but these are not widespread enough.

Providing exemplars of integrated STEM projects that illustrate openings for children to learn through play, exploration and inquiry about the STEM disciplines, which can include modelling situations, conducting fair tests and building prototype solutions, for example, and learning about transversal skills such as digital learning and working collaboratively, will be important. The NCCA, STEM professionals, teacher development bodies, the inspectorate and unions are and should continue to be part of the development of these exemplars.

Additionally, STEM projects differ depending on whether I am a scientist, technologist, engineer or mathematician. For example, coding or designing and making might be included in some STEM projects but not in others. A variety of exemplars need to be developed and shared with teachers which illustrate the breadth of STEM working. This develops practitioners' STEM confidence and competence, including their digital competence, which are critical for good-quality STEM education. Spaces and resources for STEM teaching are also critical to ensuring the successful incorporation of STEM into early education. At DCU, our work with the NCCA comparing primary curricula has shown that many countries are now supplementing their traditional mathematics and science offerings with attention to integrated STEM learning. Almost all of the countries surveyed have chosen a hybrid model of subject teaching interleaved with integrated STEM work. This overcomes the dangers of missing out key disciplinary concepts and ensures children can see the trajectory of disciplinary ideas.

I conclude by noting that, at DCU, we are excited by the opportunities offered by the attention to STEM in the Aistear and primary mathematics frameworks. There is potential for educational innovation in Ireland around STEM that serves individual and societal needs. We look forward to contributing to high-quality access to STEM experiences for young learners through our research and teacher development activities. I thank the committee for its time.