Minister for Education Norma Foley TD today announced a wide-ranging consultation process as part of the development of phase two STEM Education Implementation Plan under the STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026.
Minister Foley said: "It is important that our children and young people have real opportunities for high-quality STEM experiences at a young age. We know that having this access can have a lasting impact and can set the stage for their later engagement and success in these fields. The STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026 acknowledges that there is a need to enhance STEM learning for learners of all backgrounds, abilities and gender, from early years education through to post-primary.
"This consultation process will take the form of surveys and focus groups, and I am inviting all those with an interest in STEM education to ‘have your say’. It is critical that the voices of all our stakeholders are heard and feed into the development of the new implementation plan. It is your views that will shape the delivery and future of STEM education over the next four years from 2022 to 2026”.
While the Covid pandemic has impacted on delivery of actions to date much progress has still been made.
The Department of Education has made progress on STEM-related curricular reform with the publication of the Gender Balance in STEM report.
This is supported by the provision of a dedicated STEM section on Scoilnet.ie with over 9,000 national and international resources and a STEM continuous professional development (CPD) Support Framework to ensure improved professional STEM learning experiences within and across sectors and improved learner outcomes for STEM learners.
The policy statement recognises the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education to foster creativity in learning from early years to post primary and beyond and the need for all stakeholders to work together in order to nurture and develop our learners.
The implementation plan will be informed by learnings from the implementation of the policy statement to date and the views and opinions of education stakeholders.
In addition to this public consultation a series of STEM education consultations will be undertaken with key stakeholders, including primary and post-primary students, schools, early years settings, higher and further education institutions, teachers, early years practitioners, parents, business and industry, education partners, STEM related organisations/associations and out-of-school STEM providers.
It will also be informed by recommendations in relation to Gender Balance in STEM and STEM and the Arts developed by STEM Education advisory groups, as set up by the Department of Education to support the implementation of the policy statement.
In addition to the information collected through this consultation, the learnings from implementation of STEM education in early years settings and schools and consideration of government policies and priorities will be taken into account.
The consultation survey is available here until 26th January 2022. https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/a9b09-consultation-on-the-stem-education-implementation-plan-20222026/
Notes to Editors
The Department’s STEM Education Policy Statement 2017–2026, published in November 2017, provides a national focus on STEM education in our early years’ settings and schools and sets out the ambitious goals and actions required to achieve and improve the STEM education experience and outcomes for all learners.
This policy statement was developed following extensive consultation with stakeholders, research and has also been informed by the STEM Education in the Irish School System Report.
It sets out ambitious journey up to 2026 which will be dynamic and evolve to meet the challenges of the future. Its’ vision is to provide “the highest quality STEM education experience for learners that nurtures curiosity, inquiry, problem-solving, creativity, ethical behaviour, confidence and persistence, along with the excitement of collaborative innovation”.
The STEM Education Implementation Plan 2017-2019 built on the range of reforms and initiatives already underway in STEM, in areas such as curriculum and assessment reform, teacher professional development, embedding digital learning and advances in initial teacher education. It was the first of three defined stages of implementation between 2017 and 2026.
Stage two implementation was to run from 2020 until end 2022, however development was postponed due to the impact of COVID-19 on the school system, when consultation was not possible. It is now planned that combined implementation of stages two and three will run from 2022–2026.
Some key achievements to date include:
- Guidelines in relation to forming Business/Industry-school partnerships were launched on 14th November 2019. An online toolkit accompanies these guidelines and includes case studies/ examples of good practice
- STEM awareness campaigns continue in conjunction with Science Foundation Ireland include #IGetPaidToDoThis and #ThisIsStem
- A Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Framework which supports the cross-sectoral design and delivery of STEM CPD has been developed
- STEM related curricular reform since 2017 has included the introduction of Leaving Certificate Computer Science, as well as new specifications for Art, Agricultural Science and Applied Maths. All new specifications for Junior Cycle including Mathematics, Science and Technology subjects have been introduced. A number of short courses at Junior Cycle have also been introduced, including Junior Cycle Coding.
- Framework for Leaving Certificate Computer Science was introduced
- A literature review and an assessment of current interventions in relation to female participation in STEM was published in Q4 2020
- Development of Gender Balance in STEM report and recommendations
- STEM resources for the Aistear Síolta practice Guide to support STEM practices within early years settings were developed
- The Department is collaborating with SFI on their Discover Programme call in order to create opportunities for increased participation and engagement with STEM.
- STEM Education 2020: Reporting on Practice in Early Learning and Care, Primary and Post-Primary Contexts was published by the Inspectorate.
- Digital Learning 2020: Reporting on practice in Early Learning and Care, Primary and Post-Primary Contexts was published by the Inspectorate.
Next Steps
In order to inform the new Implementation plan 2022-2026, a number of STEM education consultations will be undertaken to gather the views and opinions of key stakeholders to include pupils/students, schools, early years settings, higher and further education institutions, teachers, early years practitioners, parents, business and industry, education partners, STEM related organisations/associations and out-of-school STEM providers.
This consultation phase looks to gather information on the implementation to date and identify actions under each of the 4 pillars of the Policy Statement, as set out below.
- Pillar 1 Nurture Learner engagement and participation
- Pillar 2 Enhance early years practitioner and teacher capacity
- Pillar 3 Support STEM Education Practice
- Pillar 4 Use Evidence to support STEM education
ENDS