TEACHER PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES IN L-STEAM PLAY: A CASE STUDY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Abstract

Teacher pedagogical practices play an important role in shaping meaningful learning experiences in early childhood education, particularly during L-STEAM play, which integrates literacy, science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. During play, teachers do not merely organize activities but continuously build learning contexts, respond to children's ideas and needs, provide appropriate support, and make pedagogical decisions based on the dynamics of the learning process. However, previous studies have often examined specific aspects of teacher practice, such as scaffolding, interaction, guided play, or STEAM implementation, separately. Less attention has been given to how these practices operate as interconnected components during L-STEAM play. This study explores how teacher pedagogical practices are enacted during L-STEAM play and how these practices facilitate the emergence of creative behavior among young children. A qualitative case study was conducted at an early childhood education center implementing L-STEAM play. The study involved five teachers who facilitated L-STEAM activities across five learning centers, while children aged 5–6 years were observed within their natural play activities. Data were collected through non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews with teachers, and document analysis. The data were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña. The findings identified five interconnected pedagogical practices: establishing the play context, providing adaptive scaffolding, developing pedagogical interaction, making responsive pedagogical decisions, and facilitating learning reflection. These practices did not operate as isolated strategies but formed an integrated, adaptive, and child-centered pedagogical system. Through this interconnected process, teachers created opportunities for children to express ideas, explore possibilities, try alternative approaches, solve problems, communicate their thinking, and develop creative ideas during L-STEAM play. The study contributes an empirically grounded conceptual model of teacher pedagogical practices in L-STEAM play that highlights the interconnected nature of contextualization, scaffolding, interaction, pedagogical decision-making, and reflection in facilitating the emergence of creative behavior in early childhood.