We know that science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) learning is critical for all young children, but how do educators ensure that this engaging, exploratory approach is truly accessible and beneficial for children with disabilities? I had the chance to talk to Dr.Yvette Meré-Cook, author of the new book, Inclusive STEAM Education in Early Childhood to answer this question and others that arise when thinking about making high-quality early STEAM experiences inclusive and meaningful for all learners. Her book is a practical guide for early childhood educators and advocates for a strengths-based approach to leveraging children's innate interests and abilities in STEAM. Follow along our conversation below to explore what it means to shift the focus from deficits to strengths, dispel common myths about early STEAM learning, and discover powerful strategies for fostering an inclusive environment where every child can thrive as a scientist and engineer.
Amanda: You have a new book recently published by Teachers College Press called Inclusive STEAM Education in Early Childhood. Can you tell me a little bit about it?
Yvette: Of course. This book focuses on providing young children with disabilities access and opportunity to engage in early STEAM learning. The book is a practical guide for early childhood educators and early childhood special educators to design learning areas with STEAM-based activities that center around children’s interests. It also provides resources and ideas for embedding universal design principles within the materials offered to young children. For example, in the Art Area, we provide paintbrushes but we also include small pieces of sponges for children to use their pincer grasp, large paint stamps for children that need to push down hard on the table while painting, and stickers for children that want to create art pieces but are sensitive to the feel of paint.
Amanda: I love that focus on universal design in the learning areas! It really emphasizes inclusion from the start. Your book also advocates for a strengths-based approach to supporting young children with disabilities in STEAM. Could you elaborate on what that means in practice, and why shifting the focus from deficits to strengths is so critical in early childhood education?
Yvette: The way that we provide special education services is rooted within a deficit model. We need to “assess in all areas of suspected disability” to understand a child’s needs, identify a disability category, and create goals and a plan to follow progress towards these outcomes. This is understandable given the process for families to obtain needed supports for their children with disabilities. However, what would happen if we asked the question: “how do we leverage a child’s strengths and interests in order to address their developmental needs?” This question is the starting point for early STEAM learning. For instance, one child that I highlighted in the book, Mattie, loved music. Specifically, he loved the sound of our tabletop harp. We moved this to our Math and Games Area and began to engage in a counting activity with him using this harp. When we struck the harp, we said “one”. We waited, he struck it again, we said: “two.” Over the course of the next two weeks, Mattie played up to ten distinct sounds and used this harp to count. This is math. If you asked Mattie to verbally count or engage in one-to-one correspondence to count with his fingers, he could not. But with music, he was able to engage in this early math skill, and we were able to see what he could do rather than what he could not.
Amanda: That story about Mattie and the harp is such a perfect example of turning an interest into an access point for learning. It completely changes the conversation from "can't" to "can." With that kind of inclusive potential, what is the biggest myth or misunderstanding you encounter about providing high-quality STEAM education to young children with disabilities?
Yvette: Oh my, where do I begin? To start, people think that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are too young for STEAM learning. In fact, babies are born scientists with an innate skill to notice patterns, change, attributes, and make comparisons. Hynes-Berry, Chen, and Abel (2021) published a book called Precursor Math Concepts where they stressed the importance of nurturing these skills in young infants, just as we would nurture children’s early literacy skills through speaking with them and reading to them as infants.
Second, when people think of high-quality STEAM education, they think IPAD. Technology, and you also discuss this in your book Amanda, Playful STEAM Learning in the Early Years, includes low-tech and high-tech tools. Low tech includes paints, egg shakers, blocks, and unifix cubes. High-tech tools can also include screen-free items such as handheld fans used to test out the sturdiness of our block structures or a speaker to play music during Large Group Time. The technology is the tool; it is not the activity itself. However, I want to distinguish this from assistive devices and communication devices that children with disabilities need to access their learning.
Lastly, the myth that young children with disabilities are “not ready” for early STEAM learning and that they need explicit instruction from adults. Not only are young children with disabilities ready, but early STEAM learning has a unique benefit for children with disabilities, especially neurodiverse children. Children with autism seem to thrive in the processes of applying the scientific method to test out the magnetism of different materials or improve upon a solution to an engineering problem that required them to build a floating structure that could carry a certain number of toy frogs. These approaches tap into their strengths of linearity and logical thinking that result in other children seeing children with disabilities as leaders in the inclusive classroom.
Amanda: That's fascinating that early STEAM can be uniquely beneficial, especially for neurodiverse children, and can elevate their leadership in the classroom! It also sounds like you're a big advocate for the Arts in STEAM. I know there's sometimes a debate about adding the 'A'—how do you see the integration of the Arts enhancing STEAM learning specifically for children with disabilities, and what unique avenues does it open up for expression and problem-solving?
Yvette: I am so grateful that you asked this question because it is a topic that is still in debate. The argument for clustering science, technology, engineering, and math together is that these disciplines are integrated. I see the Arts as integrating science, technology, engineering, and math in robust ways. For instance, in my book I highlight a few lessons that early childhood educators are free to use. One of them focuses on color mixing, a common activity within an ECE and ECSE classroom. Mixing colors could include a discussion on primary vs secondary colors, offers an opportunity to use a variety of tools, allows for teachers to prompt children to make predictions (I wonder what would happen if we mix the red paint with the white paint?), and, allows for further exploration, what colors do we see in nature? As a class, after we have mixed with paints, we can engage children in the engineering design process by asking children to create an art installation by combining everyone’s paintings. Children with disabilities often offer unique perspectives on how objects can fit together. This open-ended approach to problem-solving that honors all young learners’ unique visions is naturally done in the classroom through engagement in the visual arts. For children with disabilities, the Arts offers an additional access point to engage in science, engineering, and math. Consider the example I provided on Mattie’s use of music to engage in counting. I have yet to meet an early childhood teacher or early childhood special education teacher that does not use music and movement to illustrate math concepts of repeating patterns.
Amanda: It sounds like the arts can really be a bridge to deeper engagement for many children. Shifting gears slightly—here at NGCP, many of our partners work specifically to encourage girls to pursue STEM. While your focus is on inclusion for children with disabilities, are there particular strategies or mindsets from your strengths-based approach that are especially powerful for engaging and empowering young girls in STEAM?
Yvette: Engagement in the Engineering Design Process (EDP) is a powerful way to shift one’s mindset to focus on one’s strengths and build confidence. This approach to problem-solving views of failure or things not working as a natural and needed part of the process. In my book, I define the EDP through three steps: Explore-Create-Improve steps of the Engineering Design Process that is within Wee Engineer, a research-based engineering curriculum designed for young children, ages 4-6. When I present challenges to children in my classroom, I encourage them to explore the materials we have, create a solution, and then test it out. I always emphasize the need to improve upon a creation or solution. Over time, the improvement process helps to reframe failures into opportunities to make things better. It also helps to internalize that if something does not work, I can fix it. I am capable of tackling any problem. I do not need to rely on others to fix something; I can figure it out. I want to point out that this shift can occur at any age. When you approach a problem by exploring the possibilities, creating solutions, testing these solutions, and learning from the mistakes or failures to improve for the next time, this is a powerful mindset that is transformative, if you “trust the process”.
Amanda: That EDP mindset of seeing failure as an opportunity is definitely transformative—for anyone! Given that girls often face gender stereotypes in STEM, and girls with disabilities may face additional stereotypes regarding their capabilities, what is the most effective way for educators to actively counter these “double stereotypes” in the early childhood STEAM environment?
Yvette: For one, check your assumptions and biases about gender and disability. Be open and honest with yourself and ask “Am I limiting this child’s opportunities to explore their curiosities because I do not see them as competent. I know that last word is hard to hear, but we need to reflect inward on our contributions to a child’s engagement in early STEAM learning. Second, start by combining a child’s preferred toys with new materials to explore. For instance, in the book, I highlight a child named Connor. Connor loved cars. He also sought out several textures on his hands. Therefore, we designed a ramp investigation in the Science Area that used ramps that were bumpy (faux stone adhesive backsplash), rough (sandpaper), and smooth (plywood only). We placed these ramps within the empty water table to promote use of the ramps rather than launching the cars across the room. Connor took his time to explore each ramp and after the teacher modeled the car moving down the ramp, we discovered that Connor was testing each one.
Amanda: Using a child's favorite toy, like Connor's cars, to introduce new materials and investigations is such a smart, practical tip. Finally, we know here at NGCP that role models are crucial for encouraging girls in STEAM. NGCP highlights the importance of role models to inspire and encourage girls in STEM and STEAM. When developing a pool of women STEAM role models, what considerations should girl-serving programs make to ensure that women with disabilities are visible and authentically represented?
Yvette: Children’s books, books, and books! In my book, I tie science and engineering investigations to storybooks that feature women scientists. One of my favorite stories is Mae Among the Stars, by Roda Ahmed. It tells the story of Mae Jemison, the first African American woman that traveled in space. I also carefully choose stories that represent women and individuals with disabilities that engage in STEAM careers. Another favorite book that I constantly use within my workshops for teachers and occupational therapists is, Kate, Who Tamed the Wind, by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Lee White. The cover shows Kate in a “power pose” as she is thinking of a solution. The story also shows her engaged in the engineering design process, creating plans and improving upon these solutions. Although these images do not explicitly say that Kate is capable and competent of engaging in engineering, the representation of her wondering and questioning and improving her ideas are powerful statements for all young children.
Amanda: Those are wonderful book recommendations! My last question focuses on the actions we all can take. If educators and practitioners reading this interview could make one small, intentional change to their learning environment or teaching practice tomorrow to be more inclusive in their early STEAM activities, what would you recommend that change be?
Yvette: Wonder and encourage young learners to wonder, too. Wonder what interests your young learners? Wonder how you can make explorations into these interests more accessible? Wonder how you provide time for young children to explore and create? Wonder how your classroom looks, smells, feels, and welcomes children with disabilities? Wonder how children will use the materials you provide? Wonder how you can test out new tools or new activities? Wonder how every child in your classroom is provided with the opportunity to explore their wonderings/curiosities.
Want to Learn More? Check out Dr. Yvette Meré-Cook’s book Inclusive STEAM Education in Early Childhood or these additional resources:
Books:
- Precursor Math Concepts by Mary Hynes-Berry, Jie-Qi Chen, Barbara Abel
- Playful STEAM Learning In the Early Years by Amanda Sullivan and Amanda Strawhacker
Websites:
Dr. Yvette Meré-Cook
Dr. Yvette Meré-Cook has been working with children with disabilities and their families for 25 years as an early intervention and school-based occupational therapist. Having earned a Doctorate in Special Education from the University of San Francisco in 2016, Dr. Meré-Cook examines instructional practices, innovative approaches, and sensory-based strategies that support the inclusion of young children with disabilities within learning environments. This work includes embedding early STEAM learning within inclusive preschool classrooms to examine the effect on children’s social-emotional development. Dr. Meré-Cook has also designed two inclusive preschool classrooms within large public university early childhood centers, including serving as the Program Coordinator for the inclusive preschool classroom. Dr. Meré-Cook currently teaches within the Occupational Therapy Department at Samuel Merritt University where she continues to conduct research on ways to support access to early STEAM learning for young children with disabilities. Dr. Meré-Cook lives and thrives in Oakland, California with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.
Dr. Amanda Sullivan
Senior Researcher, NGCP