| Abstract [eng] |
Topic of Master's Thesis: preschool teachers' readiness to apply STEAM educational activities: competencies and the need for their improvement. STEAM education, which includes natural sciences, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, is becoming one of the significant directions of modern education, as it allows different areas of knowledge to be combined into a single educational process. The success of STEAM educational activities directly depends on the teacher's preparation, because the educator needs the ability to see the connections between different areas of education, plan activities appropriate to the age of children and reflect on the educational process. Thus, the main problem of the work is how to ensure the preparation of preschool teachers to effectively apply the STEAM educational strategy in activities? The object of the work: Application of the STEAM educational strategy in the activities of a preschool teacher. The aim of the work: to investigate the readiness of preschool teachers to apply STEAM educational activities, revealing the expression of competencies and the need for their improvement for the effective implementation of the educational strategy. Tasks: 1. To analyze the concept of STEAM educational strategy in Lithuanian and foreign preschool education discourse. 2. To reveal the peculiarities of implementing STEAM educational strategy in preschool education practice. 3. To analyze the importance of improving teachers' competencies for the integration of STEAM educational strategy. 4. To investigate the readiness of preschool teachers to apply STEAM educational activities and to determine their competence improvement needs. Research methods: I. Theoretical: Analysis of scientific literature sources. II. Empirical: Semi-structured interviews. Research results: The study revealed that teachers understand the importance of the STEAM educational model for children's development and purposefully implement this model in practice, but their preparation depends on professional development opportunities and available resources. The study data showed that educators face challenges in planning and implementing STEAM activities, especially when there is a lack of methodological support, time or appropriate tools. |
