Science, technology, engineering and math education versus collaborative higher education methodologies: challenges, opportunities and limitations

Alfiado Victorino

Résumé

This article evaluates the challenges, opportunities, and limitations of the implementation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in the Mozambican context, considering its potential in promoting participatory methodologies. Using the method of a literature review, the article analyzes the challenges, opportunities, and limitations that the introduction of this practice imposes on the promotion of participatory methodologies in Mozambican education. The results show us the challenges and limitations existing at various levels: educational policy formulation, curriculum structure, infrastructure, and the faculty training, on the one hand. On the other hand, they suggest that STEM offers some opportunities for reframing the act of teaching/learning, leading to increase the quality and relevance of teaching. Its implementation in the school territory through project learning or problem solving suggests that this practice can be a valuable tool in the promotion of collaborative methodologies in the teaching/learning process, thus contributing to the improvement of educational practice in the Mozambican school. However, its transposition and application in the Mozambican context must be done critically and reflexively, respecting the socio-cultural specificities of Mozambican society, while preserving the strengths of the current national education system, on the other hand.