Uncovering Science Education in Australian Early Childhood Teacher Qualifications

Despite the existence of a national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education agenda highlighting the importance of science education in the years before formal schooling, guiding documents for early childhood curricula and practice in Australia continue to lack systematic integration of science teaching and learning. Without clear guidance on how science (or science as an element of STEM) can be enacted in early childhood education, there is similarly limited guidance for the integration of science in initial teacher education (ITE). A social research audit of publicly accessible course handbooks was used to understand how science is positioned within Australian early childhood ITE programs. Findings suggest that preparation to teach science is highly variable, ranging along a continuum from none at all, through exposure to science within an integrated STEM or STEAM subject, to the development of discipline-specific science pedagogical content knowledge. This variability has implications for future research, policy and practice.