This week when creating an early level resource on people who help us in the medical field I put some clip art in. I searched for doctor and chose one of the first images. Then the same for nurse.
‘So what?’ you say.All I did was pick the first images returned in a search. But when I looked at the search results mostly they return a stereotype.
On reflection I started thinking, as I am potentially influencing pupils ideasof what a doctor or nurse is. Perhaps even influencing what pupils feel they can or cannot aspire to. Should I have thought more carefully about the images I chose?
To help us think about the influence we may be having on pupils and therefore who thinks STEM is right for them, this weeks CLPL is from the Improving Gender Balance and Equalities (IGBE) team at Education Scotland. Fiona Shaw is the IGBE officer who covers Falkirk and her contact details are in the presentation.
My name is Laura McCafferty and I am one of Falkirk’s Primary STEM Development Officers (PSDOs). My days for this role are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Barbara Hanning, who is the other PSDO, works a Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
I thought it might be helpful to share a little bit about me with you. I have 13 years primary teaching experience. I have taught all stages and have also been lucky enough to cover a maternity Support for Learning Teacher role providing me with an even deeper understanding of additional support needs. I’ve had a wide range of leadership opportunities over the years including leading World of Work and Rights Respecting Schools.
At the end of the 2018/2019 session, I was successful in gaining the role of STEM lead within St. Margaret’s Primary School where I have been a member of staff for 7 years. This meant I would be in class three days a week and out of class for two days each week developing STEM within our school setting.
My Headteacher asked me to set up three STEM hubs in our school for P1+2, P3,4+5 and P6+7. Unfortunately, due to building works this was put on hold when we started back after summer until after the October holidays. In the meantime, I researched and looked at the variety of ways to implement STEM in the classroom and discovered the idea of teaching STEM through stories. I put together a range of folders for ages 5-7, 7-9 and 9-11 (all of which are shared on our Teams page) and decided to try out ‘The Iron Man’ with my own class. You will see from the video and further resources shared the success of this.
When I was able to get into the STEM hubs, I thought carefully about what was required to allow children to have the best experience they could. With support and advice from Gayle Duffus at Education Scotland, she introduced me to Emily Hunt’s ’15 Minute STEM’ book. I looked at the 40 challenges and the resources required. I related each activity to CfE Experiences and Outcomes for staff in order for them to make links between class and hub learning. I then developed resources further by retyping the challenges without photos or information other than the challenge to encourage thinking and problem solving skills in the children. The other information was made up to share with staff incase they wanted to take learning further. Finally, I made up answer booklets to go with each of the challenges, some including tally charts, measuring, bar graphs etc… so a visit to the STEM hub has lots of meaning and develops a wide range of skills as well as learning experiences. (All of these resources are also available for you to access and use on our Teams page)
I am absolutely loving my roles of PSDO and STEM lead and although I do not have a specialism in any of the aspects of STEM, I fully appreciate its value as a learning experience to raise attainment and achievement. STEM learning does not have to be all whizz, pop, bang experiments and infact, I would imagine most of what you already do is STEM learning, you just don’t identify it as that…..yet!
I look forward to working with you and if you have any questions or would like some support, please do get in touch. That’s what I’m here for and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting in to meet some of you already to help you on your STEM journey.
To join our STEM – RAiSE Falkirk Team type the code is188td
All resources associated with this CLPL can be found in the team. If you are already a member click here.
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