Defining STEM within a School District: A Co-Constructed and Evolving Process

Autor/inn/en	Siegel, Debbie; Giamellaro, Michael
Titel	Defining STEM within a School District: A Co-Constructed and Evolving Process
Quelle	In: Cultural Studies of Science Education, 15 (2020) 3, S.739-773 (35 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Siegel, Debbie)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1871-1502
DOI	10.1007/s11422-019-09959-2
Schlagwörter	STEM Education; Program Implementation; Rural Schools; School Districts; Educational Change; Definitions; Teacher Attitudes; Administrator Attitudes; Educational Innovation; Partnerships in Education; Design + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? STEM; Rural area; Rural areas; School; Schools; Ländlicher Raum; Schule; Schulen; School district; Schulbezirk; Bildungsreform; Begriffsbestimmung; Lehrerverhalten; Instructional innovation; Bildungsinnovation; Hochschulpartnerschaft
Abstract	Taking a sociocultural approach, the goal of this qualitative study was to examine the "process" of implementing a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) initiative. The study examined how the construct of STEM was individually appropriated and collectively constructed within a rural school district during its launch year. Within this theoretical framework, the authors argue that such a change must be viewed as a contextual, active, co-constructed, and evolving process. Data from practitioner journals, participant interviews, and researcher field notes were characterized by how practitioners referred to and discussed the idea of "STEM." The perspectives of teachers, administrators, and a STEM coach were examined to determine how practitioners appropriated the notion of "STEM," how this varied by practitioner group, and how individual appropriations of "STEM" merged and evolved as a co-constructed understanding of "STEM." Practitioners appropriated this STEM initiative in distinct ways, specific to their context, while at the same time working toward a district-wide understanding of "STEM." During the course of this year, the district's ownership of this initiative was reflected in the emergence of a new label for "STEM," which they renamed "TEAMS." This new label reified the context-specific conceptualization of a STEM initiative. The results highlight the importance of acknowledging the active role that practitioners play as co-designers of innovations and the value that should be placed on this active role to support long-term sustainability. The study provides a deeper understanding of the process of implementing STEM that might have implications for implementing similar STEM initiatives elsewhere. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01