STEM, PBL and Student Agency in Early Childhood
It was a Friday of March, 2020. We were getting ready to start our projects’ culmination week at our school. We were in a meeting to discuss how we can make our PBL processes even more authentic, learner-centered, and fun for the students, when the government suddenly announced a nationwide lockdown and we were asked to immediately send the students home. In disbelief, as we helped the school close down, we were all in shock and uncertain about the future of learning for our students. Suddenly, everything came to a halt as the first variant of CoronaVirus made its way to Pakistan, and schools were asked to close down for an indefinite period. Since then, we have been switching back and forth between Hybrid (with 50% attendance) and Online Learning Programs at our school.
I teach at TNS Beaconhouse, Gulberg, Pakistan, as a Grade 4 Homeroom Teacher and the Project Based Learning Coordinator for grades K-5. Our school has been implementing innovative learning and teaching practices and pedagogies. TNS Beaconhouse is the first school in Pakistan to embrace the Reggio Emilia Approach and it is the overarching philosophy that scaffolds both our project-based learning and International Baccalaureate Programme, especially for the Early Years. After all this time, we take all the elements of Gold Standard PBL quite seriously. Our main focus is always on giving ownership of learning to the students, which means we work the hardest on the student agency. With the pandemic striking our education system, we needed to improvise immediately so as not to compromise with our learning and teaching pedagogies and the authentic learning experiences of our students.
Initially, one of our biggest challenges was to keep our youngest students engaged and involved in learning when they were online. Our teachers and coordinators got together to brainstorm the best practices and looked at how we could make this all work. We concluded that young children learn best by “doing”. And for that, what else would be better than pairing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with PBL? We wanted to help students follow their natural curiosity and learning paths, understanding the science of this world by exploring and investigating things-while they were at home. It was decided that the next 7-10 days would be solely dedicated to gauging the interests and skills of our youngest learners, aligning their interests with our term targets and coming up with STEM-based PBL inquiry processes. This was done using various provocations consisting of play-based activities, story-telling, and reading sessions.
Nursery (Ages 3-4) “How can we create Science Fiction stories about Space?”
In Nursery, the teacher observed that the students loved to tell stories, and were wondering about the planets and this universe; their interests could be used to work on their English literacy and STEM targets. The driving question for their project was, “How can we create Science Fiction stories about Space?” The Nursery students were able to learn about the solar system and understand where we (humans) exist in this universe. Using various hands-on learning experiences, reading, and storytelling activities, they unlocked the wonders of the world and used that knowledge to create illustrations, book covers, and narrated fiction stories related to space.
You can check out their learning journey on this link: 1,2,3, Blast Off
Here’s a work sample from a student: Superheroes on a Spacetastic Adventure
Reception (Ages 4-5) “How can we design an official mask for TNS?”
Our Reception students were continually coming back to discussing the Corona Virus and the confusion of the situation around them. One day, during our Hybrid Learning program, a student raised a question in a morning meeting, “Why don’t we have a TNS [school name] face-mask?” and most of the students nodded in agreement, and that was the ‘aha’ moment for everyone and got this valuable discussion started. The teachers used that opportunity to challenge the students to design their school masks. The question that drove their inquiry was, “How can we design an official mask for TNS?” The kindergarteners explored different fabrics, materials and masks (such as cotton, polyester and even paper), to analyze which worked best for making comfortable and effective masks to use at the school. They also observed how they could design a mask that gelled in well with the school uniform and is comfortable enough to use for relatively long periods as required in the school. In the end, they presented their masks-design proposals to the school administration for approval. You can check out their learning journey on this link: The mask I wear at school
Kindergarten (Ages 5-6) “How can we create our own fun toys?”
In the first cycle of our virtual/hybrid sessions, some of the kindergarteners seemed uninterested and disengaged. Those who were present during the online classes were often playing with toys or generally distracted. This was impacting their attendance, and we needed to remedy the situation immediately.
On Global Play Day, a few days later, the teachers requested the students bring any toys they wanted from their homes and also placed some digital devices (such as iPads and laptops) in the class to experiment and see what fancied them more. Interestingly, most of the students chose toys over digital devices. This led to a very thought-provoking discussion as to what makes toys so fun and when the first toy was made in the history of this world. Building upon this discussion, the seed of their next project idea was planted in that lesson. The students and their facilitators dove into their next PBL inquiry cycle with the driving question: “How can we create our own fun toys?” Students explored the history of toys, interviewed their grandparents for the kinds of toys they played with in their childhoods, analyzed what makes toys fun and used recyclable and natural materials found around them to create toys. In the end, they presented their toys to their friends and school community, inviting them to play with their toys by highlighting what makes each so much fun. What a wholesome, fun, authentic, learner-centered experience. You can check out their learning journey on this link: The Toys Kingdom
Ayesha Inam
Ayesha Inam is a STEM Education Specialist. She is currently designated at TNS Beaconhouse Gulberg based in Pakistan as a homeroom teacher for Grade 4 and Project-Based Learning Coordinator (K-5). She is the Founder and Creative Director of The STEM Lab Pakistan, an organization that promotes and inculcates the love for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in young children, especially young girls. She loves interacting and engaging with children helping them learn how the world works through gamification, game-based and play-based activities. In her lesiure time, she likes to read books, perform crazy science experiments with her two kids and meditate whenever she can.