Research On STEM Education In Australian Kindergartens

Since the beginning of the new century,the effectiveness of STEM education in improving national economic strength has become increasingly prominent.In order to actively solve the problem of global scientific and technological innovation,countries around the world have focused on the field of early childhood education.A growing number of countries are aware of the significant returns on investing in early childhood education,and having a quality early education can be of great help to children's immediate and subsequent learning and development,family and even society.At the same time,countries have improved national innovation through the development of STEM knowledge in science,technology,engineering and mathematics.Among them,early childhood is a key stage of learning,which plays an important role in the cultivation of innovative talents.It is also an important choice for Australia to introduce STEM education into early childhood and undertake the major task of building core competitiveness.After the exploration and development of kindergarten STEM education in Australia in recent years it has accumulated beneficial experience and achieved great achievements in the aspects of target principles,implementation strategies and safeguards.By summing up positive experience,it can provide a reference for China to achieve leapfrog development.Focusing on kindergarten STEM education in Australia,the text consists of five parts except the introduction part.The first part analyzes the development motivation of STEM education in Australian kindergartens from four parts: the urgent needs of international scientific and technological innovation,the practical challenges of STEM education in Australia,the practical needs of early childhood education reform and the theoretical promotion of related subject research.Firstly,in response to the pressure of scientific and technological innovation competition,countries began to focus on the cultivation ofinnovative high-skilled talents and create various conditions in schools and other places to promote the practical development of STEM education.In addition,there is a shortage of STEM skills in Australia,a decline in student interest and participation and a lack of qualified STEM teachers,which arouse an urgent need to improve Australia 's productivity and international competitiveness.Besides,with the disadvantages of domestic early childhood education appearing,the related disciplines have continuously confirmed that the early childhood education has positive impact on the development of primary and secondary schools and society.Therefore,Australia has began to formulate corresponding early childhood STEM early education practices based on its own situation.The second part elaborates the objectives and principles of STEM education in Australian kindergartens.Under the guidance of "National STEM School Education Strategy 2016-2026",Australian kindergarten STEM education focuses on the early childhood education to stimulate the curiosity and sense of participation of young children's STEM learning,enhance the experience of young children's STEM and improve the possibility of young children's STEM learning Sustainability.At the same time,with the principles of equality,partnership,fairness,diversity and reflection,it provides appropriate guidance for Australian kindergartens to carry out STEM education.The third part expounds the implementation strategy of STEM education in Australian kindergartens.In order to successfully promote the early childhood exposure to STEM knowledge,more and more education researchers,technical teams and social organizations in Australia have adopted many practical measures to promote the development of kindergarten STEM education,which include emphasizing theoretical research on kindergarten STEM education,developing applications for kindergarten STEM education,highlighting the inclusiveness of kindergarten STEM education objects and strengthening the construction of teaching staff for kindergarten STEM education.The fourth part is to explain the safeguard measures for STEM education in Australian kindergartens.Australia's integration of STEM education into its own education system,especially in the early childhood education stage,has given great support in all aspects,which is mainly from the strong promotion of national policies,the direction of educational ideas,the interactive integration of modern technology,thediverse participation of educational subjects and the full support of research institutions to analyze the guarantee mechanism of STEM education in Australian kindergartens in five aspects.The fifth part summarizes the experience of STEM education in Australian kindergartens.The main experience of kindergarten STEM education in Australia include four aspects:emphasizing the interdisciplinary and enlightening nature of STEM education,focusing on the reality and activity of STEM education,emphasizing the interaction and regulation of STEM education,and highlighting the design and interest of STEM education.Although some experience has been gained in the implementation,it also exposes the problem that the understanding of kindergarten STEM education is not uniform and the teaching staff is insufficient.Based on this and the current situation in China,we put forward the following suggestions: build a policy system for the development of kindergarten STEM education,emphasize the inclusiveness of kindergarten STEM education,establish a technology platform for kindergarten STEM education and pay more attention to teacher training for kindergarten STEM education.