How educational policy affects how a STEM summer school was run.

What is it about?

The article describes a STEM outreach scheme run for young people with Additional Support Needs. It describes how the scheme was organised and the difference it made to the adults and young people who took part. Evidence used included interviews with staff, emails, comments made by young people and observations of the young people. The scheme had a positive impact on everyone who was involved, but in different ways. The article looks at whether Scottish policy affected how the scheme was run and the authors suggest that it did. The scheme showed that STEM can be made inclusive, although it quite often isn't. However, the results suggest that STEM subjects may need to be taught in different ways to be inclusive. The work also shows that people need to stop thinking that doing STEM is always about getting a job.

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Photo by Thomas Kinto on Unsplash

Photo by Thomas Kinto on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Some young people with Additional Support Needs only get a minimal amount of science teaching in school. This study looked at a summer scheme that to teach STEM to young people with ASN and whether the way it was taught was influenced by educational policy. The authors found that policy was a positive influence of the summer scheme including the fact that the young people were able to learn a lot about STEM. The article also suggests that the focus on STEM simply as the means to get a job does not attract all people, so should be used less than it presently is.