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Rightful Presence in Early Childhood STEM: Honoring Disability Culture Through Professional Development

Stites, M. L., Yang, H.-W., Lim, C.-I., Sonnenschein, S., Vinh, M., Singer, J., Krasniqi, B., Davis-Hilton, A., Kaur, F., & Lippert, M.
August
2025

From the abstract: "There is a STEM learning opportunity gap for young children with disabilities. Despite research demonstrating that high-quality, inclusive environments benefit all learners, many early childhood educators lack the training and confidence to implement inclusive practices, particularly in STEM education. This chapter introduces a professional development model designed to support teachers in implementing inclusive STEM pedagogy and recognizing ableism in their STEM teaching. A key component of this program provided teachers with opportunities to apply and refine new strategies in real-world settings."

Citation

Stites, M. L., Yang, H., Lim, C., Sonnenschein, S., Vinh, M., Singer, J., Krasniqi, B., Davis-Hilton, A., Kaur, F., & Lippert, M. (2026). Rightful Presence in Early Childhood STEM: Honoring Disability Culture Through Professional Development. In K. Terrell & D. Silva Pimentel (Eds.), STEM Education and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Research, Practices, and Critical Reflections (pp. 347-380). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-9889-0.ch010

DOI

10.4018/979-8-3693-9889-0.ch010