How can science and technology activities be made engaging and relevant in primary education?


Within this blog post, we shall be exploring how science and technology activities are made engaging and relevant to primary education. STEM is known as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and is being promoted a lot more within Primary schools. These skills are crucial to have a strong economy and technological advance society. Over the last 10-15 years, we have had so many changes with technology around the world. - New innovations such as artificial intelligence, self-service, drones, self-driving cars and more which are constantly changing the way we live and evolve.

According to our ex prime minster David Cameron he said "If we are going to succeed as a country than we need to train more scientists and more engineers" (David Cameron, 2013) We are facing a shortage of people working in these careers for the future. Engineers and technicians we will be short of 1 million new people by 2020. (Royal Academy of engineers, 2015)

A review was recently taken by Donaldson, 2015 and after that review a New Curriculum is being implemented by the Welsh Assembly to make improvements to our educational system. However, particular attention will be paid to digital competence, as the Welsh Assembly Government recognises the importance of digital skills to the economy in the years ahead. (The UK STEM Education Landscape) A big negative is that there is little being done at a national scale to change wider public understanding of engineering and engineering careers. Without this support in place by government or national organisations taking charge and influencing the next generation the country will stagnate without the correct professions in the correct positions. (The UK STEM Education Landscape)

Only 10% of the current workforce are women! - Which shows there is a lot more to be done with equality and to promote STEM to girls at primary especially to engage their interests more. (The Independent, 2015)

It is shocking as children reach KS2 its spent focusing on English and Maths and over 50% of teaching is dedicated to those two topics... "All other subjects, such as art, history, science, D&T, computing, geography, languages, physical education and music, are squeezed into the remaining time available."  (The UK STEM Education Landscape) We value English and Maths a lot but isn't education a way to give them a flavour of different careers but to also inspire them with these topics from a young age.

If we investigate what other countries are doing with their educational systems! The aim of this way of teaching in Finland known as project or phenomenon-based learning (PBL) - is to equip children with skills necessary to flourish in the 21st Century, says Kirsti Lonka professor of educational psychology at Helsinki University. Among the skills she singles out are critical thinking to identify fake news and avoid cyber-bullying, and the technical ability to install anti-virus software and link up a printer. In August 2016 all Finland schools were ordered to work more in a collaborative way to increase skill based learning which fits in with the 21st century style rather than following an outdated curriculum when so much has changed in terms of technology and how society runs now! (BBC News, 2017)

Jobs are constantly being changed and new jobs are always being created... By 2023 the UK risks STEM shortage of half a million. (Recruitment International, 2017) - This research was commissioned for EDF Energy's Pretty Curious campaign, analyzed Government data and examined trends in the growth of science, research, engineering, and technology jobs.

So how do we engage our Primary school children (Reception, KS1, and KS2? We need to have enthusiastic teachers who are educated and knowledgeable, recently in Wales, we have been introduced to the "Digital Competency Framework" as part of the Donaldson review to improve standards within Wales and for children to learn vital skills but also known to be inspired at a young age to follow STEM-related courses when they are older. Love it, hate it or never really think about it? Science isn’t just a school subject – in one form or another, it is continually changing and improving the way that we live our lives. It makes and sustains our modern society and will help us to understand and solve the big questions that our world faces (Welsh Gov, 2012).

Recently, Lego Robotics and HP have partnered and part of the partnership Lego will offer Lego Mindstorms, a simple and fun tool with software and lesson plans that take students from basic coding to complex algorithms... The Partnership also supports the "HP Education initiative" which really helps schools and provides them with more equipment, software, credits and much more which helps schools to inspire their children with STEM! (Global Citizen, 2017) This is one way to engage children and links well with other subjects...

Making STEM engaging, fun, and accessible for all children is essential to create a world where innovative technology thrives and science is valued. Cheers to companies, like HP and LEGO, who are coming together to bridge this gap. (Global Citizen, 2017)

I feel very strongly about promoting STEM-related projects to children so I set up "Code Breakers" a technology club for children aged between 7-12 years. We have a series of projects planned throughout the year that the children that attend learn invaluable skills, being creative and innovative. Projects such as coding, robotics, animation skills, HTML and many more. We currently have over 42 children attending every week in the local area. This is constantly developing my skills as a teacher and tops up my knowledge in STEM. The club I believe needs to be fun but also learning different skills at the same time.

References:


Global Citizen (2018) How coding and Legos are making STEM fun for kids (Online) Available from: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/lego-and-hp-join-forces-to-improve-educational-opp/ [Accessed 12/4/2018]

Grant K (2015) UK needs over one million new engineers and technicians, says Royal Academy of Engineering (Online) Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-needs-over-one-million-new-engineers-and-technicians-says-royal-academy-of-engineering-10334994.html [Accessed 12/4/2018]

Royal Academy of Engineering (2016) The UK STEM education Landscape [Online] Available from: https://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/uk-stem-education-landscape [Accessed 12/4/2018]

Spiller P (2017) could subjects soon be a thing of the past in Finland (Online) Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39889523 [Accessed 13/4/2018]

Wilson R (2017) UK risks STEM labour shortage of half a million by 2023 (Online) Available from: https://www.recruitment-international.co.uk/blog/2017/08/uk-risks-stem-labour-shortage-of-half-a-million-by-2023-research-reveals [Accessed 12/4/2018] 


  

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