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Getting a global perspective on STEM education

An online symposium by ACU and CHRIST (Deemed to be University): Fostering international collaboration

In late 2024, education students from Australia and India came together in an online symposium to workshop a hot-button topic: the principles of STEM teaching.

"When students come to the teacher education program, they're always very concerned about science and STEM. Most of them have stopped learning STEM subjects back in Year 9, so there's an apprehension for them at the thought of teaching STEM themselves," says Dr Sindu George, an ACU senior lecturer and education researcher who organised the event.

"This was an opportunity for them to broaden their perspectives and hear about what's happening in other contexts and other parts of the world so they can build a better understanding of how STEM can be taught."

Called Global Classroom: Comparative Insights on Science of STEM Teaching in International Contexts, the symposium was a collaboration between ACU and CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in Bangalore, India. It got students thinking, talking and sharing ideas about STEM teaching approaches, as well as exploring comparative perspectives of STEM teaching in different cultural contexts.

The event attracted 170 attendees, predominantly first-year education students at ACU and pre-service teachers at CHRIST. It was also attended by Dr George's science education academic team, academic staff from the School of Education of CHRIST (Deemed to be University), and a range of in-service teachers from Australia and India who were invited as guest presenters.

"The guest speakers from Australia included a secondary teacher pursuing a PhD on Indigenous policies, a primary school teacher overseeing Montessori program, and a secondary teacher from a suburb with a significant refugee population. Representing India were an experienced teacher from Christ ICSE School, Bangalore, along with preservice teachers who had placement experience in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), State, and International Baccalaureate (IB) school contexts", Dr George says.

"All of these speakers had specific expertise, and they shared their experiences and practical strategies for everyone to take home and try implementing in their own teaching contexts."

The event was the latest in a series of partnership opportunities between ACU and CHRIST, who signed a bilateral agreement in 2017. Over the last six years, Dr George has worked with her CHRIST collaborators on a series of research projects to explore the impact of cultural influences in teaching practices, the Indian Government's new inclusive education policy, and STEM education opportunities in low-income communities.

In 2023, Dr George was invited to visit CHRIST (Deemed to be University) as a scholar in residence which gave her dedicated time to explore new opportunities for collaborative teaching and research programs between the two institutions. It was during this visit that she first had the idea of conducting the STEM symposium - something that the School of Education of CHRIST was only too happy to support.

Now, Dr George and her collaborators from CHRIST are in preliminary discussions about launching a joint global STEM centre that has the potential to rapidly scale this work.

"Given the success of this event, we can really see an opportunity to take this further. We want to create more opportunities for knowledge exchange between teaching professionals from around the world," she says.

"There's a real opportunity to compare in contrast what's happening in STEM education particularly in India and Australia. So that's the next big step that we're looking forward to."

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