Chapter 1: A Global Reimagining of STEM Teacher Preparation and Practice

STEM education is an increasingly important priority as attention grows and focuses on reimagining STEM teacher preparation and practice nationally and internationally (Freeman, 2014; Lowrie, Fitzgerald, & Downes, 2018; McDonald, 2016; Marshall, 2010; York et al., 2019). The International Council of Associations for Science Education (ICASE), in concert with the 2013 ICASE World Conference representing 34 countries, released the Kuching Declaration on Science and Technology Education calling upon the global community involved in research, policy development, and the teaching of STEM disciplines to recognize the need to better prepare students for their future lives as global citizens (ICASE, 2013).

Importantly, as Kennedy and Odell (2014) note, “Improving teaching and learning in STEM education has become an economic factor in developing countries, emerging economies, and in long established economies such as Europe and the United States” (p. 248). Subsequent to the Kuching Declaration, STEM education in general and STEM teacher preparation in specific has increasingly gained prominence. Evident is a global turn to STEM and emerging research priorities underpinned by commitments to internationalization and multidisciplinarity (Freeman et al., 2019). Importantly, as Mpofu (2019) notes, “globally, strengthening Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is recognized as embedding solutions to many societal problems” (p. 1).