Early Childhood Educators Awarded for Inspiring STEM Approaches

Teachers, early childhood educators, and services have been recognized for their creative and engaging approaches to STEM education in early learning. Minister for Early Childhood Education, Dr. Anne Aly, congratulated the national and state and territory winners of the 2024 Little Scientists Awards.

“I congratulate all the outstanding winners and encourage early learning educators and teachers to continue finding fun ways to introduce children to STEM subjects,” Dr. Aly said. She emphasized the importance of this year’s theme, noting that by the age of six, a girl’s interest and confidence in STEM can already be negatively affected by gender stereotypes and implicit biases.

“We want girls and women to have the same opportunities to participate, enjoy, and succeed in STEM fields throughout their lives, just as their male counterparts do,” she added.

The Little Scientists Early STEM Education Awards celebrate innovation in engaging children aged zero to seven years in STEM learning. The theme of the 2024 awards, “Overcoming Gender Bias in Early STEM Education,” underscores the crucial role early childhood educators and teachers play in challenging gender stereotypes and biases that hinder young girls’ participation in STEM.

Bagdad Education and Care in Tasmania received the national Excellence in Early STEM Education Award for their project, Will the ropes break under our weight?, where children explored ropes, physics, and motion, developing and testing hypotheses about the properties of ropes and how to strengthen them.

Esther Christian from Seedlings & Co Calamvale in Queensland was named the National Outstanding Early STEM Education Leader for a wind and flight project. This initiative allowed children to create and test paper planes, explore wind with windsocks, visit the local airport, and meet real pilots.

The Australian Government supports the Little Scientists Program with $6.7 million in funding, helping to empower early childhood educators and teachers to build their skills and confidence in delivering engaging STEM experiences for young children.