Belonging in STEM: Identity Affirming and Inclusive Practices to Support Each and Every Child in Early Childhood Environments

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to explore practices and policies at all levels of the system to cultivate belonging and foster a sense of rightful presence in early science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning.

All children are born scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who are curious and ready to explore the world around them. With intentional planning, adaptations, and facilitation of playful, culturally responsive, and developmentally appropriate interactions and activities, children’s STEM identities can be positively affirmed. Children with disabilities have the right to high-quality instruction and support to fully engage in STEM learning experiences and develop a positive STEM identity. However, young children with disabilities and children from minoritized backgrounds are often denied the opportunity to engage in STEM learning opportunities, which may further impact the development of their STEM identity.

We are seeking submissions that represent anti-ableist and/or anti-racist approaches to equitable early STEM learning experiences for young children (birth to six) with disabilities and/or children who are from minoritized backgrounds. We welcome original research articles, concept papers, and reviews that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Identity-affirming, culturally responsive and sustaining, and inclusive early STEM practices and interventions for children with disabilities and/or children from racially/ethnically minoritized backgrounds, including multilingual learners.
• Community partnerships promoting equitable opportunities and rightful presence of children from minoritized backgrounds in early STEM learning and experiences.
• Family engagement in promoting equitable opportunities and rightful presence of children from minoritized backgrounds in early STEM learning and experiences.
• The role of policies and systems/infrastructure practices in promoting equitable opportunities and rightful presence of children from minoritized backgrounds in early STEM learning and experiences.
• The role of personnel preparation and professional development in empowering early childhood and early childhood special education professionals in implementing identity-affirming, culturally responsive and sustaining, and inclusive early STEM practices and interventions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions, which will deepen our collective knowledge and understanding of practices and policies that cultivate belonging and foster a sense of rightful presence in early STEM learning for each and every child.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Chihing Lim
Dr. Hsiu-Wen Yang
Dr. Jessica Amsbary
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• disability inclusion
• early childhood education
• early years
• STEM
• racial equity