STEM the acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths or as many schools have adopted STEAM including Art as they see the wider implications and necessity to include creative thinking as part of the agenda.
Where did STEM come from and why was it created?
STEM/STEAM came from the realisation of a trend where not enough students were studying Science related courses and going into Science related careers in the U.S. The U.S. predicted this would be problematic for their future economy and ‘The STEM acronym was introduced in 2001 by scientific administrators at the U.S. National Science Foundation(NSF). The organization previously used the acronym SMET when referring to the career fields in those disciplines or a curriculum that integrated knowledge and skills from those fields.’ There were concerns about the number of students entering Science and Engineering professions as some took alternative degree options and with graduates who flocked to the higher rewards available in the financial services for their high level of mathematical skill and analysis. Also possibly the de-scaling of the manufacturing sector over the past 40 years hasn’t helped, certainly in the U.K. anyway.
An agenda to raise the importance of those subjects was set up and a marketing acronym of STEM was created (and then STEAM has followed). As the years have gone on there has been some really good work in promoting and adding to the importance of Science and Maths in schools. It’s vital to encourage students to take these pathways as we clearly need engineers, doctors, analysts, generally great minds to support society and shape the future.
Like any branding label though as you market and promote one thing you can then potentially demote another. Humanities, Languages and the Arts have all taken a hit and a decline in numbers in recent years and are valued less in some schools which is a great shame. Design and Technology has been somewhat stuck in the middle of this process and debate and has faced an identity crisis as a result of this, combined with the underfunding of schools since the financial crisis. Design and Technology has adopted Maths and Science into the new GCSEs in light of the current trend and robotics and computer based outcomes can also dip in and out of the department depending on where the IT departments can sit.
Design and Technology departments foster a great deal of varied skills in their teachers and technicians and yet are often undervalued and have to change with the tide as budgets are squeezed in schools across the country and this requires continuous re-shaping and can sometimes lose sight of what they are trying to or able to provide. Luckily, there are skills in the departments and design teachers are generally flexible people but the costs to the departments are felt heavily and the pupils suffer the consequences. Several politicians’ flippant comments made on a whim have not been helpful along with austerity carried out by this Government.
Design and Technology as a department has always offered a unique advantage in a school that it can be anything from Art to Science, embrace and connect all subjects together in the fact that we can create solutions for all areas of life but we can also raise the spirit and aspirations of people through purely aesthetic exploration. A great number of students have always found great solace in this department and have benefited greatly from a practical project based approach that provides something different from other areas of the curriculum. It allows them to explore a brief and experiment in not only 2 dimensions on the page but 3 which adds a value that you cannot put on a spreadsheet. A subject where students can invent, solve problems or explore the environment, space, scale, proportion and aesthetic qualities of an object. In a similar way to all the great inventors or creative thinkers who are mostly polymaths, gifted in and open to many areas of study as they bridge across the boundaries of subjects, making connections and generally it is nearer these boundaries where the new is found.
Design departments need to be able to say this is who we are, based on the unique talents of those in that department and be allowed to teach students how to design and make without constant questioning. There is enough time in the curriculum devoted to Science and Mathematics and although it’s always great to cross pollinate and collaborate, it should not detract from or de-value Design and making projects in whatever form, whether focused more on craft skill, aesthetic appeal, Design thinking, Engineering challenge, Graphic communication, textiles or electronic solutions. It almost doesn’t matter what area the department focuses in on as long as it is right for the pupils in front of them and there is enough diversity to allow all pupils to gain something from their experience.
Design Technology departments need to be empowered and supported by their schools to do it with passion and do it well as that will ultimately inspire the students across the whole curriculum. We need to understand what our USP is as a group of people and sell it to make sure we are valued equally to the rest of the curriculum.
Like SEN and Gifted & Talented if we create a label and then focus on one group of students, we stop focusing on another. The label is important to understand the needs of some, but we should continue to focus on all students and all of their needs. Therefore we should value all subjects, offering equal opportunities to help students to find the areas that they are inspired by. We as educationalists should help guide students towards those areas that are right for them.
As Design Technology departments we should embrace our unique sets of skills, in our individual departments, in the context of our locations and celebrate together the difference that our departments can offer in all areas of the Country. It’s important that we are careful not to try to morph ourselves into some sort of homogeneous standardised entity like the high streets have done and are now paying a heavy price. As high streets see the need to localise what they offer, to have unique shops and bespoke products to draw people to their towns. Government needs to provide the funds to Schools, so they can empower Design departments to do the same and schools’ leaders should continue to support and promote all subjects, all students and all teachers equally.
Joe Earley
Designer and Design Teacher
https://www.britannica.com/topic/STEM-education/STEM-education