Sciencenter

The Sciencenter, in partnership with the National Informal STEM Education Network, proposes a professional development project for museum practitioners in service of early childhood learning. This three-year project will engage 30 pairs of museum practitioners and local community partners in six-month professional learning communities to increase their capacity to provide relevant family engagement in STEM for all audiences. Museum-community partner pairs will collaborate within a cohort of their peers to plan, develop, and implement early STEM programs while growing a reciprocal partnership. This project will build field-wide capacity to address early childhood needs by strengthening local partnerships and connecting museums with effective, evidence-based resources. Online workshops and a digital toolkit will be made widely available to reach additional practitioners and enrich early childhood and family learning across the museum field.