Voices from primary mathematics teachers : facilitating STEM education in Hong Kong

Abstract

Responding to the series of STEM government policies in the Hong Kong education system, this dissertation examined the varied perspectives teachers have about the facilitation of STEM education in Hong Kong. It aimed to explore their interpretations of how government mandates influenced the provision of STEM and its implementation, their interpretation of the influences that affect administrator’s decision making regarding their support of STEM education as well as the extent of which the STEM agenda served as an enabling mechanism for mathematics teachers to act as agents of pedagogical innovation within their community. Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological Model (1974) is used to provide a conceptual lens to understand the interconnected and complex interactions that occur across multiple nested systems within the current STEM education curriculum reform. The data collection methods include four in-depth interviews with teacher participants about their experiences facilitating STEM education in Hong Kong. The data is represented using illustrative quotes that describe teacher participants’ experiences and interpretations. Four areas were identified that influenced the participants’ perceptions of the facilitation of STEM education: the wider provision of STEM education to all students, the level of inquiry-based identity amongst teachers and students, teachers’ professional knowledge and integrity and distributed leadership. The four data themes are theorised with Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological Model to reveal how the inextricable linkages amongst and between system levels can bolster or obstruct students’ experience in the curriculum.