Extracurricular science activities have been identified as educational contexts that can broaden students’ opportunities to engage with scientific practices and develop interest in STEM disciplines. These initiatives may create learning environments that complement formal schooling by enabling participation in authentic scientific practices and fostering connections with science beyond the classroom. However, limited research has examined how teachers participating in these programs describe and structure these educational experiences from their professional perspective. This study analyzes teachers’ discourse regarding their participation in an extracurricular science program and identifies the educational elements that structure these experiences.
The study forms part of the first phase of a doctoral research project and corresponds to an exploratory qualitative design. The data corpus consists of semi-structured interviews conducted with four teachers participating in an extracurricular science program. The analysis followed a sequential deductive–inductive approach. In the first phase, a deductive analysis was conducted based on the proximal level of the STEM orientation model proposed by Reinhold, Holzberger, and Seidel (2018). Subsequently, inductive coding was carried out following Saldaña’s (2013) qualitative coding procedures to identify emerging patterns in teachers’ discourse.
The analysis identified two main analytical dimensions comprising six categories and twenty-seven subcategories that describe key components of the educational environment generated in these extracurricular experiences. Among the elements most frequently emphasized by teachers are learning experiences outside the classroom, opportunities to engage with scientific practices, student recognition, the development of learning communities, and the public presentation of students’ work.
The findings suggest that extracurricular science programs can create educational environments that extend learning opportunities beyond traditional classroom settings and support participation, recognition, and community-building around science. Within the framework of STEM orientation, these elements can be interpreted as proximal educational factors that may contribute to fostering students’ interest and engagement with STEM pathways.
