A POLICY PROPOSAL FOR DRIVING STEAM EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS THROUGH A POLICY LAB APPROACH
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Abstract
Situated within Thailand’s educational reform agenda aimed at enhancing 21st-century competencies through interdisciplinary learning, the implementation of STEAM education in schools remains fragmented and weakly aligned across policy, educational service area, and school levels. A coherent multi-level policy implementation mechanism is therefore required to connect national policy formulation, area-based translation into educational management, and school-level practice across the education system. This study aimed to: 1) examine current conditions and challenges in STEAM education implementation in secondary schools; 2) investigate implementation processes in schools demonstrating good practices; and 3) develop and validate a policy proposal for advancing STEAM education in secondary schools. A mixed-methods design was employed using a Policy Lab approach grounded in the design thinking process. Data were collected through document and literature review, interviews with key informants at policy, educational service area, and school levels, and expert appraisal of the proposed policy. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis, and quantitative data using descriptive statistics. Findings indicated that the policy proposal constitutes an integrated three-level framework comprising: 1) the policy level with five domains; 2) the educational service area level with four domains; and 3) the school level with five domains. Expert appraisal confirmed high levels of accuracy and feasibility. The study contributes a policy innovation by presenting a sustainable STEAM education implementation framework that strengthens alignment between policy formulation and practice across all levels of the education system.
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