Intro to STEAM Professional Learning

Professional learning (PL) describes the learning process that adults experience to improve their teaching practice. It often involves ongoing and collaborative opportunities to help adults build their positive mindsets, knowledge, and practice to support children’s learning. These opportunities might be referred to as: 

• trainings,
• workshops,
• coaching sessions,
• seminars,
• communities of practice,
• professional development.

In this module, we will use facilitators to refer to individuals who plan and lead PL sessions and participants to refer to educators who participate in PL sessions.

PL provides opportunities for adults to engage actively as learners (Knowles, 1980). Adult learners:

• bring their life experiences and knowledge to their learning,
• need to know why they should learn something,
• want learning to be relevant and applicable to their lives or jobs, and
• are internally motivated to learn. 

For additional information on adult learning and how it might differ from the way children learn, explore the following resource from the California Academy of Sciences: Andragogy and Pedagogy.

CPE provides PL resources for trainers, coaches, and staff working with educators of young children on STEAM topics. CPE resources support educators to:

• experience early STEAM teaching and learning with joy and curiosity;
• recognize the importance of providing active, playful STEAM experiences for young children; and
• feel more confident in their knowledge and implementation of STEAM teaching practices. 

CPE’s approach to PL focuses on building on the existing skills and experiences of early educators. This strengths-based approach involves facilitators recognizing and elevating the unique strengths, goals, interests, and lived experiences of participants. As a result, participants are encouraged to share their expertise, learn collaboratively, and engage in enriching learning experiences.

Reflect on a time when you attended a PL session. The session topic could be related to early STEAM or another content area. 

• How did you engage actively during the session?
• Were you learning alone or with others? How did that affect your learning experience?
• After the session, how did you apply what you learned? Describe any follow-up support you received from facilitators or coaches.