Abstract:

The rapid social and cultural development of society undoubtedly influences the increase in educational needs and the emergence of new teaching methods in the educational process. Traditional teacher-centred education is becoming unproductive in terms of developing students' competences and expecting their better academic performance. Although STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths) is not a new concept in the world, in Lithuania at the moment, it is just establishing itself and becoming very popular in educational institutions. Furthermore, it is considered a priority of Lithuanian education promoting educational renewal. Studies show that STEAM activities can improve students’ reasoning and critical thinking skills, creativity and innovation, increase children's self-confidence, and encourage them to acquire knowledge about the surrounding world through observation, exploration and questioning. This innovation involves new challenges and ways of solving them, the development of new technologies, impact on the community, renewal not only at the level of the educational system but also in terms of developing the competences of the pedagogue as the creator. However, the success of STEAM in schools depends on the preparation of the teachers and the training measures as well as infrastructure available to them. These factors often present considerable challenges for primary teachers.

The aim of the study is to reveal the experience of primary teachers in organizing STEAM activities. A qualitative research in the form of a semi-structured interview with primary teachers was carried out to achieve this. The sample of the qualitative study consisted of 22 informants. The content analysis was used to process content of the oral semi-structured interview.

The results of the study revealed that primary teachers often lack the necessary methodical material to organise STEAM activities, and that teachers look for ideas online, which increases the time spent preparing for lessons. The organisation of the activities is challenged by the lack of laboratory facilities, with teachers having to provide the teaching material themselves from their own resources. The lack of laboratory equipment affects the quality of STEAM activities, some of which have to be replaced by simpler, less interesting ones. Schools lack appropriate spaces to carry out STEAM activities: laboratories, adapted areas, opportunities to organise excursions for students. Another problem that has emerged is the lack of preparation and capacity of students for the planned activities. Also, the survey revealed insufficient participation of pedagogues in the training events to acquire competences for organisation of STEAM activities.

Keywords:

STEAM method, primary teachers, STEAM activities.