Abstract
Increasingly, education systems around the world are implementing national curriculum frameworks for early childhood education settings. However, the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are not always explicitly articulated in such frameworks, and consequently, the potential for STEM learning within these frameworks is not always well understood. In this chapter, we offer a counter argument to the “typical” justification of STEM education that it is in nations’ interest to develop a STEM literate workforce in order to be economically competitive on a global level. Instead, we highlight a child-rights perspective for STEM education in the early years, elucidating the potential access to STEM education afforded through national early childhood curriculum frameworks. This chapter interrogates the national early childhood curriculum frameworks of Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden in order to demonstrate how STEM can be made visible in such frameworks.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | STEM Education Across the Learning Continuum |
| Subtitle of host publication | Early Childhood to Senior Secondary |
| Editors | Amy MacDonald, Lena Danaia, Steve Murphy |
| Place of Publication | Singapore |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Chapter | 6 |
| Pages | 87-112 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9789811528217 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789811528200 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01 Jan 2020 |