Sixteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during the first quarter of 2020 has not only led to a catastrophic number of fatalities globally, but has also disrupted all aspects of daily life, including education systems worldwide. K-12 teacher advocacy is vital to ensure colleagues and students have adequate resources and access to equitable teaching and learning experiences. Describing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education advocacy activities among ten K-12 STEM master teachers pre-pandemic and during the pandemic should illuminate some impacts of this systemic shock among STEM education advocates (teachers). This study applies the STEM Master Teacher framework of teacher-leadership development in policy advocacy as a lens from which to explore how K-12 STEM teachers participate in various types of advocacy-based leadership. From collected interview data and follow up questionnaires, phenomenography is employed to understand how these ten STEM teacher advocates conceptualize STEM education and their advocacy therein over time, exploring how advocacy priorities and/or activities have shifted as a result of COVID-19. The use of a phenomenographical methodology affords the opportunity to discover impacts of this disruption at two levels: through experiences shared by STEM teacher advocates (first-order perspective) and interpretations of their recounted experiences (second-order perspective), which is ascribed as ideal for interdisciplinary (e.g. STEM) education research. This research highlights key and critical areas where STEM education advocacy has ebbed and flowed as a result of systemic disruption, prognosticating both challenges and opportunities for K-12 STEM teacher advocates brought forth from this global crisis.