Abstract:

In recent years, the STEM approach has become increasingly prominent in educational practice as an opportunity to integrate knowledge and skills from different fields, engage students more actively, and orient learning towards solving real-world problems. In this context, targeted efforts are being made in Bulgaria to modernize the school environment through the establishment and equipping of STEM classrooms and centers. Regardless of the importance of material resources, however, the decisive condition for the effective implementation of the STEM approach remains the teachers themselves—their professional preparation, initiative, and readiness to design engaging, practice-oriented, and interdisciplinary learning situations. This makes it necessary to examine the current state of the issue and to identify the main challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the STEM approach in school practice.

The aim of this paper is to present the results of a study conducted within the framework of the National Programme “Development of Scientific Research and Innovation in Bulgarian Preschool and School Education,” focused on analyzing the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation of the STEM approach in school practice. The study was carried out through a questionnaire survey involving 2,914 educational professionals from different educational institutions in Bulgaria. The analysis focuses on their views regarding the availability of a STEM environment in schools, the technological equipment available, the methodological approaches used, and the need for additional preparation for working in a contemporary educational environment.

The results indicate the presence of a developing STEM infrastructure in Bulgarian schools, with 57.8% of respondents stating that they work in an educational institution with an operational STEM center. The data on equipment show a diverse technological resource base: 93.1% report the availability of laptops, 77.3% multimedia projectors, 48.1% desktop computers, 32.6% tablets, and 27.0% 3D printers. The distribution of educational robots is considerably more limited, reported by only 9.6% of participants, which points to the need for further expansion of the environment for experimental and interdisciplinary work. In terms of methodological approaches, the study found that 48.1% of educational professionals use project-based learning, 23.4% include inquiry-based tasks, and 16.2% apply instructional experiments. These results show that real conditions for the development of the STEM approach are already in place, but its fuller implementation requires broader methodological use of the available resources and greater pedagogical confidence in working within such an environment. The conclusions drawn from the study may serve as a basis for the development of pedagogical models and practical solutions aimed at more effective integration of the STEM approach into school education.

The presented study is important both for assessing the actual readiness of the school system to implement the STEM approach and for planning follow-up actions aimed at more effective use of the educational environment and enhancement of teachers’ professional capacity.

Keywords:

STEM approach, school practice, educational environment, teacher readiness, innovative teaching methods.