Social Sustainability of the Teaching Profession: Pedagogical Beliefs and Pre-Service Teachers’ Digital Competence in STEAM

The integration of digital technologies into early childhood education extends beyond mere technical necessity; it constitutes a fundamental pillar of social sustainability within the teaching profession. Yet, a persistent paradox remains in teacher education: the “Attitude–Competence Gap,” where pre-service teachers’ enthusiasm for technology fails to translate into practical proficiency. This study interrogates this disconnect within a STEAM framework, specifically examining whether digital competence is driven by general technological attitudes or domain-specific pedagogical beliefs. Utilizing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, we analyzed data from 200 Child Development students, followed by in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 participants who exhibited high attitudes but low initial competence. Hierarchical regression analysis yielded a critical insight: while general attitudes toward digital storytelling did not predict competence (p > 0.05), pedagogical beliefs regarding the use of children’s literature in mathematics were a strong predictor of technical proficiency (β = 0.35, p < 0.001). Qualitative evidence corroborated that students overcame technical limitations not through technological affinity but through a motivation to concretize abstract mathematical concepts via storytelling. These findings suggest that to foster sustainable STEAM education, teacher training curricula must prioritize the “why” (pedagogical conviction) over the “how” (technical mechanics), thereby closing the gap between digital intention and action. This study uniquely demonstrates that domain-specific pedagogical convictions, rather than general technological enthusiasm, are the fundamental drivers of digital competence in STEAM, providing an empirical basis for more resilient teacher education models.