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Promoting STEAM in primary schools through Storytelling

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STEAM identity refers to how individuals perceive themselves within the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and how this identity is shaped by social interactions, group memberships, and societal norms (2021; Prost et al., 2022). It involves, thus, their attitudes towards STEAM subjects, and their identification with the STEAM community, overcoming barriers such as stereotype threat that arise from the internalisation of stereotypes.

Cohen (2021) and UNESCO (2017) state that girls’ beliefs in their STEAM-related abilities such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication, begin to diminish from ages six to eight during the first years of education; assert that early exposure to STEAM subjects is crucial for building the foundation of girls' skills and interests. The development of a STEAM identity is influenced by the presentation of encouraging role models and positive experiences. In light of the factors above, it is pertinent to implement initiatives that present role models at an early developmental stage and implement a STEAM education in primary school, which serves as a pivotal activity to facilitate the development of a positive STEAM identity in girls at the earliest possible age (Cohen et al., 2021). Storytelling has been implemented with the objective of entertaining children, and it is linked to cognitive and affective-motivational factors. The act of listening to stories can foster improved motivation and emotional engagement in children. Furthermore, exposure to STEAM stories enables children to recognise the pertinence of STEAM, thereby increasing their overall engagement and interest in STEAM subjects (Barchas-Lichtenstein et al., 2023). Additionally, it enables children to gain a more nuanced understanding of a subject through exposure to different perspectives (Paiva et al., 2019).

Storytelling favours a narrative mode of making sense of the world, a mode that is context-dependent and relies on situation-based evidence. For Engel et al. (2018), the narrative mode of thinking represents the default mode of human thought, providing structure to reality and serving as the underlying foundation for memory.

Frequently, some categories of storytelling are employed and researched to narrate stories for children in primary education:
  • historical stories: stories such as biographical narratives of scientists and their work to stimulate children's motivation and engagement in science communication activities;
  • imaginary stories: stories that illustrate the sequence of events to address scientific concepts to promote children's understanding directly;
  • personification stories: stories that use certain story elements to describe scientific concepts by assigning personal characteristics to the complex concepts of a scientific field (Hu et al., 2021).
A narrative strategy composing historical stories with the presentation of biographical narratives of scientists and their work to stimulate children's motivation and engagement in science communication activities (Hu et al., 2021). Stories about science, scientists and discoveries can have important positive affective impacts (Gouvêa et al., 2019).

The "Hero's Journey Model" of Joseph Campbell (2008) is a storytelling model that can be used with the purpose of presenting women role models. This model, comprised by 17 typical stages divided into three acts as presented in Figure 1, intends to inspire readers by presenting a story as a hero's journey in discovering a new world. The main goals of this model are: to provide proof of the journey; to encourage change; and to achieve success (Campbell, 2008). The stories using this model may focus on only a few stages, present them in a different order or compile some of the stages in the development of the story due to their connection and similarity


In our project, we present narratives about women in STEAM fields as heroines on their journey of discovery. We intend to demonstrate the role of women in STEAM fields through the use of an engaging narrative for children and a storytelling model that focuses on an under-visible group, such as women in STEAM, who are elevated to the role of heroine and main character in the narrative. The objective of writing these stories in this format with a presentation of female role models is thereby to inspire children, particularly girls, to pursue careers in STEAM fields and to foster an early STEAM identity throughout primary education.


References


Barchas-Lichtenstein, J., Sherman, M., Voiklis, J., & Clapman, L. (2023). Science through storytelling or storytelling about science? Identifying cognitive task demands and expert strategies in cross-curricular STEM education [Original Research]. Frontiers in Education, 8.

https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1279861


Campbell, J. (2008). The Adventure of the Hero. In J. Campbell (Ed.), The Hero with a Thousand Faces (3rd ed., pp. 49-127). New World Library. 


Cohen, S. M., Hazari, Z., Mahadeo, J., Sonnert, G., & Sadler, P. M. (2021). Examining the effect of early STEM experiences as a form of STEM capital and identity capital on STEM identity: A gender study. Science Education, 105(6).

https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21670 


Engel, A., Lucido, K., & Cook, K. (2018). Rethinking Narrative: Leveraging storytelling for science learning. Childhood Education, 94(6), 4-12.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2018.1540189 


Gouvêa, M., Santoro, F., Cappelli, C., Motta, C., & Borges, M. (2019). Epos: The Hero's Journey in organizations through Group Storytelling.

https://doi.org/10.1109/CSCWD.2019.8791860 


Hu, J., Gordon, C., Yang, N., & Ren, Y. (2021). “Once Upon A Star”: A Science Education Program Based on Personification Storytelling in Promoting Preschool Children’s Understanding of Astronomy Concepts. Early Education and Development, 32(1), 7-25.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1759011 


Paiva, A., Gomes, A., Silva, V., Machado, I., & Dias, R. (2019). O storytelling e a literacia científica. Rev. Ciência Elem., 7(03:051).

https://doi.org/10.24927/rce2019.051 


Prost, M., Piermattéo, A., & Lo Monaco, G. (2022). Social Representations, Social Identity, and Representational Imputation: A Review and an Agenda for Future Research. European Psychologist, 28.

https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000489 


UNESCO. (2017). Cracking the code: girls' and women's education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/notice?id=p::usmarcdef_0000253479

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