EXPLORING ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ SELF-EFFICACY AND PROPENSITY FOR TEACHING STEM

The following research is conducted in the interest in exploring self-efficacy (or the lack of) in pre- and in-service elementary school teachers when it comes to teaching STEM. In order to explore the issue of self-efficacy for STEM in elementary schools, it comes to defining what STEM education is and what self-efficacy is. These definitions guide research collected in building these future and current teachers’ self-efficacy, with factors ranging from resources available, pre-service training, professional development, content area knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, perceptions of teaching STEM, and opportunities to collaborate with other teachers were listed as some of the reasons. These factors present another line of thought: building self-efficacy to the extent that these teachers go from novice to expert STEM teachers at the elementary level, as well as create positive associations with teaching STEM. Expert teachers who could become leaders, without having to be administrators, are valuable to STEM education and a rarity for elementary schools. This pushes for a survey and interview of some teachers at an elementary school in the central southeastern region of the United States and the results are a launching point into the future of STEM education at the elementary level.