IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONCEPT OF STEM EDUCATION IN THE SYSTEM OF QUALIFICATION DEVELOPMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL EMPLOYEES

Abstract

The concept of STEM-education today is the subject of research and interest among educators-practitioners, as a way to implement reforms in the field of education and improve teaching methods of natural sciences and mathematics. The article describes the method of organizing professional development of teachers within the STEM field and their continuing education at the Ternopil Regional Municipal Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education. Foreign and domestic approaches and concepts of STEM implementation in educational institutions are analyzed. In order to study and adapt the model of STEM-education as an approach to integrated learning in educational activities, an analytical study was conducted. The SWOT-analysis allowed to determine the hierarchy of positioning opportunities and threats of STEM education in the relevant matrices and to identify strategies for using strengths to realize opportunities and prevent threats, as well as to identify recommendations for the implementation of these strategies. The educational environment is analyzed and the system of measures for the development of STEM-competencies of teachers in the period of professional development is proposed. The proposed model provides a combination of formal (training sessions with STEM elements provided by the curriculum), non-formal (events in educational and research institutions) and informal education (self-education, scientific contacts, unscheduled casual conversations about STEM-education). The emphasis is placed on the fact that the implementation and development of STEM-education requires the preparation of an appropriate learning environment and improvement of the pedagogical system. An effective way to test the effectiveness of innovation in the education system is an experiment or research work. There was described for the formative stage of the innovative educational experiment of the regional level on the topic of “ECO-school” for the formation of environmentally safe STEM-educational environment in educational institutions of Ternopil region.