Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals into International Students’ Professional Practice through the STEM Leader 7 Programme (Part 2)
The 黑料正能量 Institute of Education’s Catriona Robb, John Cochrane and John Winter address the skills development and impact of their programme.
Part 1 of this two-part reflective piece introduced the STEM Leader 7 programme, a national initiative aimed at addressing the various STEM challenges in Scotland. The background to the programme and its context, a university Professional Practice (PP) module, as a placement experience in two secondary schools for Omani students, were explained. We now reflect on the impact of this programme.
In addition to offering a meaningful placement experience, a key aim of the STEM Leader 7 programme was to inspire young people to continue their studies in STEM and consider pursuing careers within STEM-related fields. The STEM Leader 7 programme forms part of the Scottish Government’s STEM Education and Training Strategy, looking to enhance Scotland's capacity to deliver high-quality STEM education and training.
While STEM education is interpreted and implemented differently around the world (Tytler, 2020), for the purposes of this article, it can be understood as education which develops the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required in science, technology, engineering and maths, as well as digital skills and creativity, while building individuals’ capacities to solve complex problems and adapt to the changing world.
For the STEM Leader 7 programme, the specific expectations are for the young learners to:
- Actively reflect on their leadership skills and qualities;
- Devise a research question linking to the UN Sustainable Development Goals;
- Undertake independent research with support from relevant others;
- Manage, document and share the results of their work.
(STEM Leader 7, 2024, para. 2)
The rationale for the cohort of international students to complete the STEM Leader 7 programme was to build their capacity in the areas above and to share their passion and love for their discipline with children and young people during their time in two Scottish schools. Additionally, they could also use this professional learning throughout their subsequent teaching careers in Oman.
Oman joined the global community in endorsing and adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the September 2015 UN Summit (Sustainable Development, 2025), so offering the STEM Leader programme to Omani students would bring the added benefit of aligning with the goals of Oman’s Ministry of Education, since these students return to Oman to teach after completing their teacher education.
After the students had completed this school placement experience, they each gave a presentation on their chosen project, highlighting the STEM benefits, the link to the SDGs and what they had learned from the experience.
Impact
As STEM educators, the students took their enthusiasm for STEM into schools and raised awareness and interest. They led small groups of S2 pupils, offering activities in STEM, leadership and employability. Each student went to two different schools in the same town, at different ends of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) spectrum, to allow them to get an appreciation of the young people’s experiences.
So et al. (2021) suggest that when schools collaborate with external partners such as universities, this can enhance STEM learning by offering opportunities beyond the traditional classroom experience. Similarly, Lang et al. (2018) found that collaboration among teacher educators, pre-service teachers and school teachers led to the development of curriculum initiatives and fostered increased interest, creativity, and confidence in STEM activities. Thus, the impact of these activities is both educationally relevant and strategically aligned with Scotland’s wider STEM goals. Staff from both schools provided very positive feedback and expressed a willingness to continue the partnership in the future.
On completion of their placement experiences, the students presented their projects to our tutor team at 黑料正能量. In their presentations, the students identified the range of skills and competences they had developed, including critical thinking, reflective practice, communication skills and increased confidence. The personalisation and choice allowed students to research a real-life STEM issue which interested them. The variety of topics presented was extensive, ranging from the sustainable use of artificial intelligence (AI) to the role of music in enhancing mathematics learning. Tutors gained valuable insights from the quality and depth of the projects. For example, it was fascinating to hear about how much water is used in AI, due to data centres using evaporative cooling systems.
All students' presentations were impressive, demonstrating a high level of creativity and key research skills. We saw evidence that the projects increased confidence among the student presenters and led to an enriched understanding of cross-curricular STEM approaches and the SDGs.
The STEM Leader 7 programme responds to the drive to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to overcome today’s global challenges of uncertainty, climate change, poverty, lack of diversity in STEM, an increasingly technological society, and STEM shortages in Scotland. In recognition of the need for today’s young people to become agile and adaptable leaders, this programme advances the STEM policy imperative by helping to fostering the necessary conditions to enable “the learners of today to be the entrepreneurs of tomorrow” (Scottish Government, 2022, p.6).
Overall, we found this to be a successful initiative for these international students and intend to continue with it for future cohorts, as part of their placement experiences. This part of their teacher education will be useful in taking forward Oman’s commitment to embedding the SDGs in education. For Scotland, our students made a positive contribution to the national STEM strategy in inspiring the young people in the STEM disciplines while advancing those young people’s understanding of the SDGs.
References
Lang, C., Powell, G., Moore, N. J., & Ibrahim, F. (2018). Connecting teachers, students and pre-service teachers to improve STEM pathways in schools. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 26(8).
Scottish Government. (2022). STEM Education and Training Strategy - Refresh: Annual report.
So, W. M. W., He, Q., Chen, Y., & Chow, C. F. (2021). School-STEM professionals’ collaboration: A case study on teachers’ conceptions. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 49(3), 300-318.
STEM Leader 7. (2024). Young STEM Leader led by SSERC. Retrieved May 25, 2025, from
Sustainable development. (2025). Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information-Technology. Retrieved May 25, 2025, from
Tytler, R. (2020). STEM Education for the 21st Century. In J. Anderson & Y. Li (Eds.). Integrated Approaches to STEM Education: An International Perspective, pp. 21–43. Springer Nature.
Published 26/05/2026
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