Toddlers and STEM Experiences: Adults as Learners

The struggle to find out the material world through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) begins at birth. Lucky are the infants and toddlers who have observant, caring adults who support STEM learning from the start. 

This is the last in a series of four blog posts written by Dr. Jill Uhlenberg who describes four types of effort adults can employ to nurture STEM from the beginning. 

Toddlers and STEM Experiences: Adults as Learners

Dr. Jill Uhlenberg

The fourth kind of effort in supporting STEM with Toddlers is the adult's role as a learner. Most of us do not know all there is to know about STEM areas, so we are forever learning more about science,

technology, engineering and mathematics. Many toddler teachers are very unsure of their ability to offer technology and engineering experiences to their children. If we accept that technology is NOT limited to screen time, this becomes much easier to understand. Technology is the tools we use to complete a task or solve a problem. The paper taped to the classroom table in my first blog entry is technology - the teacher solved the problem of paint dripping down the classroom easels by providing a horizontal surface for the children to paint. The sippy cups I wrote about in the second blog entry about curriculum development also would be considered technology. And engineering is the process we use to address those problems that we find and solve.

Even as we learn more about STEM, toddler teachers must also learn more about the children in their care. Each of the individuals has different interests, families, backgrounds, favorite toys or foods, and experiences. The more we learn about each one, the better we can be at teaching. So we must learn to view toddlers as learners who need freedoms, good curriculum, routine and variety, and a teacher who wants to know them as an individual.

Although there are many more kinds of effort toddler teachers must expend each day, from hugs, supporting toilet learning, supporting parents, documenting, clean-up, and more, engaging in these four kinds of effort produce high quality experiences for children. All four roles—liberator, curriculum developer, chief historian, and learner—interact to support toddlers in their exploration of STEM experiences.  

[For a fuller explanation, see Uhlenberg, J. (2016). The four roles of a master toddler teacher. Early Education and Development, 27(2), 240-258. DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2016.1088313]