FUTURE PRESCHOOL TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE INTEGRATION OF THE STEM LEARNING APPROACH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTICE

Abstract

The research aims to assess the attitudes of future preschool teachers toward the integration of the STEM learning approach in early childhood practice before and after the introduction of the Conceptual PlayWorld model (CPW). The sample of the research is future preschool teachers (N=46) who attended the obligatory course Methodical Practicum of Getting to Know the Environment (MPGKE) and the optional subject Children’s Play and Creativity (CPC) during which they developed the CPW, as a model of the integration of the STEM learning approach in early childhood practice. The attitudes of future preschool teachers were examined using a five-point Likert-type scale. The findings indicate that this model can create conditions for a positive shift in the attitudes of future preschool teachers towards the application of the STEM learning approach in preschool age, that it can be one of the models for the application of the STEM learning approach in early childhood practice, aligned with the understanding of learning and development of preschool children and that it needs to be further studied and developed in our educational context.