Earlier this year Education Scotland published a report presenting the key findings from the 2018/2019 Annual STEM Practitioner Survey for teachers and ELC practitioners. The survey provided valuable insights into the professional learning needs of practitioners; the challenges they face in accessing professional learning and their professional learning priorities.
A key finding from this survey was the significant increase in settings engaging with STEM partners. 42.1% of survey responses indicated that their school/ELC setting had established a partnership with one or more STEM partners from the private, public or third sector. This is an increase of 16.2% from the 2017/2018 survey. Furthermore, an additional 26.5% of 2018/2019 responses stated that their school/ELC setting hoped to have established a new STEM partnership by the end of the following academic session.
Over 200 practitioners reported that they found out about partner organisations through STEM Ambassadors with personal contacts and networking/collegiate events being the next two most popular responses. Educational settings looking to establish a STEM partnership can do so by contacting the following organisations:
- STEM Ambassadors in Scotland (see the Teacher Handbook and Youth Leader Handbook for more information)
- DYW Scotland (where you will be able to access contact details for the Developing the Young Workforce team in your region)
You may also wish to view the infographic on the STEMnation.scot online resource to find out more about the professional learning opportunities available for STEM and DYW.
You can read more about the survey findings in the National STEM Data section on the A summary of STEM resources National Improvement Hub page. Education Scotland uses this data to help shape the national professional learning offer, including the projects supported through the . A wide range of partner organisations have also used the survey findings to help them align their professional learning programmes and strategies to the needs of practitioners.
