STEM – seems that’s everyone’s FAVOURITE buzzword lately AND there are good reasons for that. BUT WHAT IS STEM?STEM IS ACRONYM for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math AND IT is becoming increasingly important topic in early education.
What is STEM
It’s not hard to see why, many of today’s most coveted professions have roots in STEM, from robotics and AI to neuroscience and biochemistry – and that need will only grow. We frequently hear how AI revolution is near, and that machines will take over many of our jobs. Not all though. The world will still need innovators, creators, critical thinkers, people who possess both technical and creative skills.
STEM IN EDUCATION
One of the first times that STEM acronym was mentioned was in 1998. in a form of STEMTEC which means Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teacher Education Collaborative. The aim of the initiative was to improve school curriculum and to improve the competitiveness of STEM fields. Reason for that lies in our outdated school systems that do not follow trends in employment sector and need to be refreshed with an education that is relevant for the needs of the modern world.
It is clear that for those important roles, current education is somewhat lacking. Kids love to learn, they do it pretty much 24/7, every new concept, every success or failure leads to some modification, some insight. They are really like little sponges, always observing their environment and soaking in knowledge and guidance of adults around them. You can see a spark in their eyes when they understand some new concept, or try some new skill.
When and why do we lose that? It’s hard to believe how a system can make those same children not just stop doing what they used to love, but actively dislike even start to hate learning. There is so much focus on memorization and repetition, pure facts and breadth of knowledge, correctness and achievement that there is a constant fear of failure, constant pressure to do better, there is just no time for experimentation and fun in learning.
IMPORTANCE OF STEM
We need to support our children to explore freely, without fear of failure, but with curious and observant mind, we need to let them experiment, to learn from tries and modifications, to analyse, we need to let them discover important scientific principles through play and not some dusty old books, most importantly we need to be right there with them to model joy and fulfillment of learning new things and applying that knowledge in our life.
That’s why STEM activities are so important, they bring the pure joy of discovery and learning not only to our kids, but to us adults too.
Seeing that spark in their eyes when after five failures they finally „get it“, will probably teach us something about the importance of not quitting on a first problem. We can learn math, we can code, we can do science, we can build things... All those are amazing skills, but what is even more important is that we will develop a growth mindset. We will know that sometimes all you need is to reframe the problem. Or just talk to somebody or even just relax for a few minutes.
There is not just one correct answer, there are many, some better than the others. But that willingness to explore options is what defines creative thinkers. That is what future demands and that is what we need to teach now.
STEM OR STEAM?
If you already searched for STEM, you probably ran into term STEAM. No, we are not talking about biggest digital video game distribution platform owned by Valve Corporation. STEAM is a program that integrates art and design into STEM formula. STEAM education programs aim to teach us how to develop engineering and design approach to solving problems while using our mathematics and science knowledge.
In other words, A as Art in STEAM encourages creative thinking and finding solutions in creative ways.
JOB OUTLOOK
By predictions, STEM field jobs will rise by 30% in 2024. But already today we can feel the impact of many other jobs in decline and STEM jobs on the rise. Technology is already making various jobs obsolete and that trend will continue. But how do we create that technology? You need Math to do Science. And science to create Technology. And that technology is only good if you can Engineer a working product that will do what we want it to do.
See now why is it important to educate in STEM fields from early ages?
If you want to dig deeper into STEM, check out Exploring STEM Fields where we talk about individual fields in more detail.