THE STEAM APPROACH IN PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION - INVESTIGATING THE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS OF CHILDREN IN THE KINDERGARTEN PREPARATORY GROUP


Authors: Penka Borisova
Keywords: problem situation, holistic development, constructivism, interpretation, explanation, evaluation, inference, analysis, self-regulation

Abstract:
The skill of critical thinking develops from early childhood, in the sensorimotor and preoperational periods defined by Piaget and continues throughout human life. If, however, there is a possibility of the absence of stimuli (game tools, methods, approaches, materials, techniques and technologies) developing criticality, during the most active cognitive period of the child's personality, there is a risk of loss and inability to develop this so important a skill for the future. Given that the skill of critical thinking does not appear automatically when a person reaches adulthood, it must be nurtured and taught during the early stages of childhood development, through STEAM education. The present study aims to show, by solving a case study of children in a group where STEAM learning is applied and solving the same case study of children in a group where a STEAM approach is not applied, whether the use of the interdisciplinary approach in the preschool institution develops or not critical thinking skills in children.Download article