STEAME projects in basic education: Validating a competence framework for educators

Abstract

The systematisation of teaching practice is essential for quality education. In the case of interdisciplinary education, current competence frameworks for educators consider Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) or at the most, also the Arts (STEAME). However, in the last years Entrepreneurship has been added to interdisciplinary approaches to education and curricula. This paper reports on an empirical study aiming to determine educators’ competences to effectively deliver project-based learning across STEAME subjects in pre-college education. 10 focus groups were carried out, involving a total of 111 education professionals from 7 European countries, to validate what we call the STEAME Teacher Facilitators competence framework from four different perspectives: consistency, relevance, sufficiency and written explanation. Results reveal the validity of the framework, as well as strong similarities with existing STEAM educators’ competence frameworks, while stressing the importance of grounding educators’ competences in strong definitions of pedagogical approaches. Further, the study paves the way for a new version of the framework that addresses the most pressing concerns by the participants. These include stressing educators’ competences to effectively use technology, clarifying the integration of STEAME subjects in project-based learning, and placing more emphasis on assessing projects and student learning within them