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We Need STEAM, Not STEM Education, To Prepare Our Kids For The 4th Industrial Revolution
Bernard Marr
We are at the beginning of a 4th industrial revolution and educators
are faced with preparing a generation of students for many jobs that
don’t even exist yet. Since the term STEM (science, technology,
engineering, and math) was coined back in 2001, there has been growing
interest in this learning philosophy to better prepare today's students
for tomorrow's jobs. However, to adequately prepare the future
workforce, another acronym is gaining popularity: STEAM, which adds
arts to the mix.
What is STEM?
Since jobs in the real-world draw upon several disciplines at once,
STEM does the same with science, technology, engineering, and math.
Lessons integrate all these disciplines, so it's, therefore, more
realistic to real-life applications than traditional philosophies of
education that have the various subjects in silos.
If you think about the job duties of an architect who incorporates
elements of science, technology, engineering, and math to complete
their job responsibilities, you can see how educating children with an
interdisciplinary approach is more applicable to what they will face
after graduation.
STEM also prioritizes project- and inquiry-based learning. Every child
needs to acquire problem-solving skills and technology literacy to be
prepared for the 21st-century workplace. STEM integrates and applies
math and science to create technologies and solutions to solve
real-world problems by using an engineering design approach.
One of the largest challenges to STEM adoption is funding and
resources. There must be investments made in the latest technology and
how to use it as well as training educators about how to incorporate
new technology into lesson plans. Additionally, education systems are
very focused on assessments and grades rather than recognizing when
activities foster creativity, innovation, and critical thinking skills.
What is STEAM?
Leonardo Da Vinci was on to something years ago when he stated, "Study
the science of art. Study the art of science." More recently, students
and academics at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) have
spearheaded the concept of STEAM—which brings the elements of STEM
together with arts to guide students' critical thinking, inquiry, and
dialogue. Proponents of STEAM education recognize the importance of
creativity and innovation in the future to solve our problems.
In fact, according to one study, nearly all Nobel laureates in the
sciences practice some form of art as adults. When you compare these
successful scientists with others, they are significantly more likely
than other scientists to practice art in a variety of forms, from
acting to singing, writing poetry to woodworking, and more. It's this
science success and art connection that make STEAM proponents believe
that by integrating arts to a child's education, it creates a person
more ready to meet the ingenuity demands of our economy.
Students who receive a STEAM education engage in experiential learning,
collaborate with others, and persist in problem-solving as they take
thoughtful risks and work through the creative process. In fact, many
employers, educators, and parents believe STEAM helps fill in a gap
left by STEM of key skills/attributes children need to thrive.
Why do we need STEAM?
STEAM incorporates the benefits of STEM in and through the arts to give
a more complete, well-rounded education. Although some feel this
distinction is unnecessary because regular STEM incorporates
creativity, leaders of the STEAM movement feel that the arts provides a
critical missing piece to STEM education that then prepares students to
not only understand science, technology, engineering, and math but know
how to apply principles from each of these disciplines to creatively
solve problems. Here's how educationalist Sir Ken Robinson discusses
STEAM in his TedTalk.
While the STEAM movement is still relatively new, it's gaining "steam."
In fact, the revered children's education program Sesame Street has
added STEAM to its program. Problem-solvers in the future will have to
look beyond what first feels like a limitation and approach challenges
with inquiry, wonder, and innovation. These are skills that the arts
exercise.
In order to create a successful STEAM program, it is essential that the
arts are included in STEM in an authentic way. It’s not about adding
creativity to STEM, but rather to apply art in real-world situations.
For example, if students had an assignment to create a product as a
STEM project, incorporating arts in an authentic way would be to
improve the appearance or design of the product using principles of
industrial design.
Since we don’t yet know what jobs will look like as we progress further
into the 21st century, it makes sense to educate our children with the
skills and capacity to think outside the box with creative solutions.
This is something a STEAM education can effectively prepare them to do.
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