Conceptual development: How do early educators and teachers support children's early thinking in STEM?

As national and state-based reforms in early education roll-out across Australia, concern for building a well-qualified workforce to meet growing demand has intensified. In parallel with the reforms, teachers and educators are reminded by the recently released 2022 Early Years Learning Framework to design programs that support intentionality in play-based learning. However, the literature shows that despite the concept of intentional teaching being around since 2009, difficulties with how to do this remains. This presentation takes up this challenge, by 1) sharing the collective findings of 6 Australian Research Council-funded research projects into play and learning in STEM; and 2) presenting an evidence-informed model of a Conceptual PlayWorld that resulted from this foundational research. The model is currently being released across Australia (and internationally) to supports educators and teachers to create the conditions for conceptual development in children’s play. The model will be shared via video recordings alongside of findings from a spectrum of research that has been funded through the ARC Laureate Fellowship Scheme over 5 years.