TY - CHAP
T1 - Contributing to SDGs Through Conceptual PlayWorlds
T2 - Changing the STEM Story for Children, Families and Teachers
AU - Suryani, Anne
AU - March, Sue
AU - Fleer, Marilyn
AU - Rai, Prabhat
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements Funds from the Australian Research Council [FL180100161] supported the research reported in this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Encouraging young children’s interests in learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) concepts has been a key focus of educational research across countries. However, there has been less focus on how early childhood children, educators and families engage in STEM through play and how this can be sustained through programmatic research. The chapter discusses emerging findings from the Conceptual PlayLab on a large-scale national study that tested the evidence-based model called Conceptual PlayWorlds (Fleer, 2018). Founded on cultural-historical theory, Conceptual PlayWorlds is an innovative, evidence-based model of learning STEM concepts through play (SDG 4) consisting of five characteristics – selecting a story, designing the Conceptual PlayWorld space, entering and exiting the Conceptual PlayWorld, planning the play inquiry and problem scenario and planning adults’ (parent/carer/teacher) interaction (Fleer, 2018). The focus is to create a collective imaginary situation where children and adults engage in problem-solving and STEM learning. With its focus on closing the gap for girls in STEM and mentoring a largely female early childhood workforce (SDG 5), this innovative programmatic study provides a better understanding of how educators, parents/carers and policymakers can support future generations to pursue science-related careers and address the shortages of STEM qualified professionals.
AB - Encouraging young children’s interests in learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) concepts has been a key focus of educational research across countries. However, there has been less focus on how early childhood children, educators and families engage in STEM through play and how this can be sustained through programmatic research. The chapter discusses emerging findings from the Conceptual PlayLab on a large-scale national study that tested the evidence-based model called Conceptual PlayWorlds (Fleer, 2018). Founded on cultural-historical theory, Conceptual PlayWorlds is an innovative, evidence-based model of learning STEM concepts through play (SDG 4) consisting of five characteristics – selecting a story, designing the Conceptual PlayWorld space, entering and exiting the Conceptual PlayWorld, planning the play inquiry and problem scenario and planning adults’ (parent/carer/teacher) interaction (Fleer, 2018). The focus is to create a collective imaginary situation where children and adults engage in problem-solving and STEM learning. With its focus on closing the gap for girls in STEM and mentoring a largely female early childhood workforce (SDG 5), this innovative programmatic study provides a better understanding of how educators, parents/carers and policymakers can support future generations to pursue science-related careers and address the shortages of STEM qualified professionals.
KW - STEM education
KW - Play-based pedagogy
KW - Early childhood education
KW - Imagination
KW - Teacher education
KW - Family pedagogy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195988562&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-56484-0_5
DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-56484-0_5
M3 - Chapter (Book)
AN - SCOPUS:85195988562
SN - 9783031564833
T3 - International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development
SP - 59
EP - 70
BT - Early Childhood Voices
A2 - Mahony, Linda
A2 - McLeod, Sharynne
A2 - Salamon, Andi
A2 - Dwyer, Jenny
PB - Springer
CY - Cham Switzerland
ER -