STEM vs STEM Education

 “Most, even those in education, say ‘STEM’ when they should be saying ‘STEM education,’ overlooking that STEM without education is a reference to the fields in which scientists, engineers, and mathematicians toil. Science, mathematics, and technology teachers are STEM educators working in STEM education” (Sanders, 2009, p. 20).  

I think this quote describes the biggest change in my understanding of STEM Education.  Often times, I am asked "what type of STEM curriculum are you teaching at your STEM school?"  The answer to this question is not quite so simple.  In my mind, STEM is not a content area to be taught through a special curriculum.  We are not adding an additional content area for our teachers to teach.  Our school's focus on STEM Education is more a change in the way we approach teaching and learning for both students and teachers.

So what exactly does this mean?  At the beginning of this school year, our teachers sat down and developed a list of what you might see and hear in our school with a focus on STEM Education.  Below is what we developed.

At Benton STEM Elementary, you will see and hear...

Students...

-        Exploring

-        Taking risks

-        Explaining and justifying their thinking

-        Questioning each other

-        Responding to each other’s questions

-        Investigating

-        Learning from mistakes

-        Collaborating

 Teachers...

-        Questioning

-        Facilitating discussions

-        Taking risks

-        Using data

-        Empowering students

-        Giving think time

-        Prompting

-        Modeling thinking

-        Exploring

-        Using the 5E model of instruction

-        Learning from mistakes

            -        Collaborating      

I would also add purposeful integration of content areas to the list for teachers.  Now, I know many teachers would say this list describes what good teaching should look and sound like in any classroom, not just at a STEM school.  I completely agree with that statement.  I believe the teaching and learning behaviors found at my school include best educational practices and cover instruction in all content areas (not just literacy and math).  I hope to revisit this topic in a later post.

I think when we say we teach STEM at our building, we are actually saying we teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  I would hope every school should be able to make that same statement.  However, what our school is doing differently is changing how we teach these areas through purposeful planning, reflection, integration, and inquiry-based instruction. 

References:

Sanders, M. (2009). STEM, STEM education, STEMmania. The Technology Teacher, 68(4), 20-26.