BANGKOK, THAILAND - Media OutReach Newswire - 11 December 2024 - Teachers are the cornerstone of shaping future generations to tackle 21st-century challenges. Recognizing their pivotal role, SEAMEO STEM-ED (The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for STEM Education), through the Chevron-funded education initiative, has launched the SEA-TEP (Southeast Asian Teacher Education Program) in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia to equip teachers with essential practices to deliver high-quality instruction related to STEM, setting a benchmark for regional and global education transformation through teacher education and development from the upstream.

Numerous reviewed literature identified critical gaps in pre-service teacher programs, including insufficient focus on effective pedagogies, lack of effective classroom practices and inadequate professional capacity to adopt quality STEM learning units. Recognizing these challenges, the SEA-TEP program was launched in January 2023 with a mission to transform teacher education through a STEM-focused approach. This initiative, driven by collaboration among policymakers and teacher education institutions, aims to provide pre-service and in-service teachers with professional training and innovative curriculum standards. The program seeks to equip students with essential STEM competencies and implementing lesson study using the high-quality STEM learning units, which are embedded with Three-Dimensional Learning including scientific and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts. Under scientific and engineering practices, claim-evidence-reasoning approach and modelling are used to foster students with critical thinking and analytical skills, ability to draw conclusions, create a conceptual model, justify them as well as develop evidence-based argumentation skills which are needed to effectively tackle 21^st century challenges.

The key question remains: "How can different countries with specific needs implement this model to align with their national priorities'" The Project presented in Thailand at the recent launch event of the Thai-US Joint-Degree Sandbox for STEM Teacher Education program under the SEA-TEP initiative during late November marked a significant milestone in Thai education, demonstrating a major milestone in how the nation has integrated the practices and curricular standards framework introduced by SEA-TEP into its curriculum and teaching approach through their partner universities. Thailand's implementation highlights the SEA-TEP model as a proven and adaptable framework, capable of advancing STEM teacher education on a global scale.

First-hand insights from regional educators who have implemented the SEA-TEP model further validate its impact. Mr. Daryn Saiynov, The Head of Caravan of Knowledge, an educational organization in Kazakhstan, stated: "In Kazakhstan, the SEA-TEP program has brought a transformative opportunity to align our teacher education system with international standards. Since joining three years ago, we've seen remarkable progress in integrating STEM principles into our curriculum, despite the unique challenges of adapting the model to our context, where science is traditionally divided into physics, biology, and chemistry. Through this program, our educators have embraced interdisciplinary approaches, with some becoming role models for the nation. For instance, one teacher participating in SEA-TEP recently won a national award as one of the top ten educators in the country, inspiring a new generation of teachers. Currently, we are collaborating with one university to implement this initiative, and with the success of SEA-TEP, we aim to expand partnerships to more major universities in the future, further strengthening STEM teacher education and fostering innovation across the country."

Similarly, Indonesia has adopted the SEA-TEP model to address its unique educational landscape. Dr. Murni Ramli, Coordinator of Professional Working Group, FKIP, Sebelas Maret University (UNS), shared: "Since joining in 2023, we have embraced the challenge of adapting lesson units to our current curriculum, redesigning topics like water quality, climate change, diseases and genetics to suit local contexts while fostering critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning. While shifting teaching mindsets is challenging, open-class practices and intensive training have shown promising results. With strong teacher training networks, we aim to expand this approach across Indonesia, ensuring the modules localized under SEA-TEP can reach educators across the country. By building these foundations, we are preparing our students not just for academic success, but to become global citizens ready to address pressing local, national, and global challenges."

Building on the outstanding success of the long-running Chevron Enjoy Science program – an eight-year initiative to strengthen STEM education in Thailand in which SEAMEO STEM-ED managed its second phase for three years, the organization leveraged its expertise and networks cultivated through the Chevron-funded program to lay the groundwork for SEA-TEP.

Zamira Kanapyanova, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Eurasia Pacific, Chevron, emphasized the company's commitment to education development, stating, "As a multinational energy company, Chevron recognizes the vital role of STEM education in preparing the future workforce with practical skills and creative problem-solving abilities. Through the Chevron Enjoy Science project in Thailand, we adapted U.S. expertise in STEM education for local schools and vocational institutions, achieving proven success. Building on this foundation, we've partnered with SEAMEO STEM-ED to improve STEM education across the region through evidence-based policies and the SEA-TEP project with an aim to strengthen teacher preparation and teacher development in networking countries. By empowering teachers, we aim to inspire children to tackle real-world challenges and create lasting impacts in their communities."

Dr. Kritsachai Somsaman, SEAMEO STEM-ED Centre Director, emphasized the SEA-TEP program's sustainability for future adoption, stating, "The SEA-TEP model is more than just a framework; it is a transformative solution for reshaping teacher education through collaborative efforts across regional networks. SEAMEO STEM-ED's role is to support partners in developing STEM learning modules rooted in evidence-based policies and strengthened by regional cooperation. By building the capacity of educational leaders, we positioned SEA-TEP as a scalable model that provides critical insights to enhance STEM capabilities and unlock student potential. Our goal is to empower teachers and faculties to design and implement STEM-focused learning units for both pre-service and in-service educators by 2025."

SEA-TEP is now entering its next phase, which will place focus on integrating core practices and STEM learning units into pre-service teacher practicum programs and supporting in-service teachers through an open-class professional learning community. Looking ahead, the SEA-TEP program seeks to strengthen regional collaboration and extend its implementation to more countries. It aims to serve as a foundational blueprint for advancing teacher education and spearheading the next wave of global education transformation.