Unpacking integrated STEM pedagogies: latent class analysis of in-service teachers’ goals, orientations, and teaching methods across contexts

Despite ongoing integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (iSTEM) education reform, challenges still persist. Understanding teachers’ perspectives is crucial for enhancing their iSTEM teaching competencies, because teachers are key agents of educational reform. Transitioning from subject-specific teaching to iSTEM teaching requires teachers to revise their goals, orientations, and teaching methods (GOT) in their teaching contexts. However, prior studies have overlooked the contextual influences on teachers’ GOT and treated teachers as a homogeneous group, neglecting individual differences. This study developed and validated an instrument to investigate teachers’ Goals for students' iSTEM learning, Orientation towards the relationship between their subject and iSTEM, and Teaching methods adopted in iSTEM across contexts. Employing a person-centered approach with latent class analysis, this study analyzed data from 318 Taiwanese and 117 Indonesian secondary school science, technology, and mathematics teachers. Significant differences in GOT classes were observed between Taiwanese and Indonesian teachers. Taiwanese teachers demonstrated four GOT types in regular courses as (a) a single preference across iSTEM GOT; (b) an open preference encompassing a wide range of iSTEM GOT; (c) a strong preference for multiple iSTEM goals with reciprocal orientation, but inconsistent teaching methods; and (d) a strong preference for multiple iSTEM goals but inconsistent orientations and teaching methods. These differences could not be explained by iSTEM teaching experience or subject major. By contrast, Taiwanese teachers in elective courses and Indonesian teachers in both regular and elective courses showed relatively uniform GOT patterns. The results underscore the importance of considering contexts in STEM teacher professional development. The identified GOT classes revealed internal differences among teachers, highlighting differentiated support tailored to specific contexts. Furthermore, the variations between Taiwan and Indonesia emphasize the potential for mutual learning and cross-cultural collaboration among teachers, enriching the collective capacity for effective iSTEM implementation.