Integrating STEAM in Early Childhood Education Classrooms: A Reflexive Content Analysis of Teachers’ Experiences

Early childhood education plays a crucial role in fostering children’s curiosity, creativity, and foundational competences in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). However, European policies promoting STEAM and digital literacy from preschool onwards have not yet been fully translated into classroom practices that are developmentally appropriate for preschool children. This study explored preschool teachers’ experiences integrating STEAM and digital technologies to identify pedagogical and didactic elements that can inform the design of an assessment tool for educators. Using a reflexive content analysis of six teacher interviews conducted in Spain and Germany, five analytical categories were established: pedagogical elements, teacher education, STEAM materials, educational technology, and evaluation processes. Results showed that teachers emphasized child-centred, hands-on approaches, cautious and purposeful use of digital tools, and predominantly observational assessment methods. They also reported fragmented professional training and a lack of structured evaluation instruments. Unlike previous studies that mainly describe barriers to STEAM implementation, this work contributes by identifying teacher-derived pedagogical indicators that can guide the development of a STEAM assessment framework based on Montessori pedagogy and aligned with European early education objectives.