Riding with 8th Graders on a bus to the Museum of Modern Art a while back, music teacher Vicki Wepler was talking about an inspiring conference she had attended called “Arts in Education: Continuing the Conversation.” Started by a group of colleagues from her graduate program at Harvard, the conference focused on the theme “Finding Voice” (a theme which, not coincidentally, found its way into performances by the chorus in the Middle School Winter Concert and the Holiday Program).
Vicki shared that she also came away from the conference with another notion that excited her: the concept of adding the Arts to the STEM discussion – in other words, expanding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). The acronym was new to those of us on the bus, but it’s actually been a part of the STEM conversation for some time, and it’s an idea that is gaining ground.
In a recent article in Education Week called "STEAM: Experts Make Case for Adding Arts to STEM," author Erik W. Robelen writes, “The idea? Move from STEM to STEAM, with an A for the arts. Although it seems a stretch to imagine STEM will be replaced in education parlance, momentum appears to be mounting to explore ways that the intersection of the arts with the STEM fields can enhance student engagement and learning, and even help unlock creative thinking and motivation.” Click here to read more.
Or take Cathy Davidson, co-founder of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, & Technology Advanced Collaboratory), who writes, "What we really need is STEAM - Science, Technology, ARTS, and Math. We need to inspire kids with the scientific method, which happens not to be scientific exclusively but, basically, learning where any form of discovery is rewarded and encouraged."
Head of School Laurie Bottiger points us to STEAM founder Georgette Yakman and her website: http://www.steamedu.com
Here's Vicki Wepler on the subject: “Adding the Arts to STEM to create STEAM seems like a logical and obvious connection to me as an educator because all of the elements that make up the acronym (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) are inextricably linked through the 4 Cs of 21st Century Skills: creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Countless major scientific, technological, and mathematical innovations have blossomed from one person's creative way to solve a problem and/or make something better. Many creative thoughts are also enhanced when multiple minds collaborate and communicate to push a great idea even further. By linking the Arts with STEM and putting all the educational elements on equal footing, students will understand how highly the Arts are valued in terms of one's learning and personal growth, and how important creative expression and critical thinking truly are for the future.”
Of course, if you look at the TCS curriculum and some of the activities that have been taking place for years (one example: Art teacher David Acheson’s Pond Yacht Regatta, for which students design, create, and then race their own boats in the “pond” Mr. A. creates on the Lower School playground), it’s pretty clear that STEAM has been occurring in an unofficial way for quite some time.
This year, some of the STEM clubs have enhanced that notion. Below is STEM coordinator Terrie Hartsoe's rundown of this year's Middle School club offerings. Among other activities, Middle School students are:
- Doing set design and construction for Beauty and the Beast
- Designing and constructing costumes for Beauty and the Beast (just how do you create an outfit for a woman shaped like a teapot or transform a hideous beast into a handsome prince right before the audience's eyes?)
- Writing songs and constructing instruments
- Creating balsa wood airplanes
- Building a box city, and giving it a physical landscape, representing the past, present and future (all with an environmental consideration)
No doubt, this discussion will be on-going at The Country School as it is in the outside world. The past few days alone have had some interesting STEAM-related conversations on NPR, although they weren't identified as such.
A conversation from Marketplace (a conversation between NPR's Kai Ryssdal and author William Poundstone) focused on the ways in which companies are changing their interview styles when seeking new employees. Poundstone, author of Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?, described some of the interview questions he had come across. Below is an excerpt from the NPR conversation.
Poundstone: OK. Suppose you're shrunk to the size of a nickel and thrown in a blender.
Ryssdal: OK?
Poundstone: Now, the blades are going to star spinning in 60 seconds. What do you do?
Ryssdal: I lie down. Right? I'm the size of a nickel. Those blender blades are, in theory, a millimeter or two higher than a nickel. I lie down and those blades go right over my head and I'm fine.
Poundstone: The answer that a lot of people came up with is that you would just jump out of the blender. You can do that and you can use physics to explain how this would actually happen. And that's considered a good, creative answer.
Ryssdal: Yes, and once again I'm not smart enough to work at Google. William Poundstone. His book is called "Are you Smart Enough To Work at Google?" Thanks a lot.
Poundstone: Good to be with you.
As Vicki Wepler, who mentioned the story said, ''What's the overarching element? CREATIVITY!!!" Click here for a link to the entire interview.
Or click here for another recent NPR story about participants at a math conference. One mathematician talks about how she uses knitting and crocheting to test math problems. She pulls out a current crochet project and says, "Okay. This is crochet and this is mathematical. The origin of this is, I wonder what it would look like if I made a hyperbolic mobius band."
One more interesting article to take a look at (thank you, Mrs. Wepler!): From the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, a blog with this compelling title: The STEAM Movement: It's About More Than Hot Air.
Learn more at www.thecountryschool.org
