The application of STEAM teaching: A case study of STEAM teachers’ beliefs and practice at secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh city

Abstract

With the expansion of science, technology, engineering, art, and maths (STEAM) schools across Vietnam and the world, new roles for teachers and educators are being designed and with these ones, their identities are increasingly developing. However, these roles are still a poorly defined area in STEAM. Therefore, this article aims to discover the beliefs and teaching practice of STEAM teachers at secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), including answering the two research questions: (1) What are the teachers’ beliefs towards applying STEAM in teaching? (2) How do teachers practice STEAM in teaching? A case study design was employed to find out the two research questions in STEAM teaching at two secondary schools in HCMC. The data for the study were collected from observation and semi-structured interviews with six teachers at two STEAM secondary schools in HCMC to answer these two research questions 1. What are the teachers’ beliefs towards applying STEAM in teaching? 2. How do teachers practice STEAM in teaching? The result: The findings indicate the teachers’ belief about the importance of STEAM teaching for students’ learning; through the results of observation and interview, the research also consolidates some characteristics of a good STEAM lesson. Besides, some disadvantages when applying the STEAM teaching method are also revealed. The teachers’ STEAM applications are also mentioned clearly in the research result. This study concludes that STEAM teachers' practice and beliefs can be considered as a highly dynamic, creative, and developing process. The efforts of teachers to bring interesting lessons about STEAM have aroused students’ interest and curiosity as well as stimulated their learning passion. The consistency between a teacher's personal beliefs and practice as well as STEAM understanding is essential for successful STEAM teaching at high schools in HCMC.