The global rise of STEM education has prompted calls for integrating A&H into STEM, creating the STEAM approach. While STEAM offers a more holistic education incorporating both logic and emotional intelligence, and potentially attracting underrepresented learners, integrating A&H into STEM teaching presents significant challenges for educators. This study addresses this gap by proposing a novel five-stage framework for teacher professional development programs designed to facilitate IAT. The framework incorporates features such as alignment with shared goals, emphasis on core content and modeling of teaching strategies, teacher collaboration within a community of practice, opportunities for active learning (lesson study), and continuous feedback. A qualitative case study approach is used to examine the impact of a program based on this framework on a pre-service teacher's self-efficacy, focusing on the changes in self-efficacy across the five stages. The study contributes to the understanding of teacher self-efficacy, teacher professional learning models, and the design of IAT teacher professional development programs.

The literature review examines the conceptualization of STEAM education, highlighting the diverse interpretations of STEM and the ambiguous approaches to integrating A&H into STEM. It discusses the challenges faced by STEM educators in implementing STEAM and the need for effective professional development. The concept of self-efficacy, specifically teacher self-efficacy, is explored, emphasizing its two dimensions: self-efficacy in individual performance and self-efficacy in student outcomes. The review also examines existing teacher professional learning models, such as the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth, and points out the limitations of many current programs that lack a comprehensive link between teacher learning and student outcomes. The importance of considering teacher knowledge, beliefs, and their interplay is highlighted, leading to the need for an updated model.

This study employed a longitudinal qualitative case study methodology to deeply investigate the changes in a pre-service teacher's self-efficacy. The participant, Shuitao, a first-year graduate student majoring in mathematics curriculum and instruction with no prior teaching experience, was selected for her active participation in the professional development program and her lack of prior IAT experience. Data collection involved a preliminary interview, monthly follow-up interviews, recordings of discussions, video recordings of teaching and micro-teaching sessions, and collection of reflective notes and reports. Data analysis used Merriam's (1998) seven-stage inductive approach, focusing on two dimensions of teacher self-efficacy: self-efficacy in individual performance (SE-IP) and self-efficacy in student outcomes (SE-SO) concerning integrating history into mathematics teaching (IHT). Inter-rater reliability was established (kappa = 0.959), and validity was ensured through multiple confirmation methods including member checking with Shuitao.

The findings are organized chronologically, tracing the changes in Shuitao's SE-IHT-IP and SE-IHT-SO across the five stages. Before the program, Shuitao expressed a lack of confidence in IHT, citing insufficient knowledge and experience. After Stage 1 (literature study), her confidence in selecting appropriate historical materials increased. Stage 2 (case learning), involving collaborative lesson plan development and observation of IHT in real classrooms, further boosted her confidence, particularly in SE-IHT-SO as she witnessed the positive impact on students. Stage 3 (micro-teaching) involved simulated teaching sessions, improving her teaching proficiency and fluency, leading to a steady enhancement of SE-IHT-IP. In Stage 4 (micro-course development), short IHT micro-courses were implemented in real classrooms, positively influencing students and enhancing SE-IHT-SO. Finally, Stage 5 (classroom teaching) provided mastery experiences, resulting in a significant increase in overall self-efficacy, particularly due to the successful implementation of IHT and positive student feedback.

The findings highlight the gradual, non-linear, and complex nature of teacher self-efficacy development, influenced by teacher knowledge, skills, beliefs, and student feedback. The study supports the importance of qualitative longitudinal studies to capture these nuances often overlooked by quantitative approaches. The study confirms and extends Cai et al.'s (2020) teacher professional learning model by adding the dynamic interplay between teacher knowledge and beliefs, teaching performance and teacher beliefs, and the role of student feedback in shaping teacher beliefs. This leads to a revised model that emphasizes the continuous and sustainable nature of teacher professional learning and its inseparability from student learning within STEAM education.

This study contributes to the understanding of teacher self-efficacy development within the context of STEAM education. It validates the effectiveness of the proposed five-stage framework for IAT teacher professional development programs, showing significant positive impacts on teacher self-efficacy. The revised model of teacher professional learning offers a more holistic perspective, highlighting the continuous and interactive nature of teacher learning. Future research should quantitatively validate the framework’s effectiveness, investigate its adaptability across different contexts, and explore further the variations in self-efficacy development among participants.

The study's limitations include the small sample size (one participant) limiting the generalizability of the findings. The qualitative nature of the study restricts the ability to make quantitative claims about the effectiveness of the framework. Future research is needed to address these limitations through larger-scale quantitative studies and investigations across diverse cultural and educational settings.