Systematising K- 12 Education with STREAM

Vinod Kakumanu
Sept. 12, 2019, 10:51 p.m.

In the previous article, we have discussed about STEMeducation i.e. executing the plan of giving more emphasis onScience, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Indian educational context. Day after day technology is becoming more pervasive that it has become highly important to strengthen the gravity of STEM learning among school children. Nevertheless, the fundamental aspect of educationis inculcation of reading and writing which seems to be missing in this type of curriculum. What about those who doesn’t want to engage in technical aspects. Taking science and maths in a larger picture, it is nothing but creation and invention of new technological tools that serve the needs of the society. STEM was turned into STEAM where A stands for Arts and rest remains the same and finally STREAM was introduced which is Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art and Math.Therefore, for students who want to unleash their creative talents a type of course has emanated in the process which is calledSTREAM.

Humanities or Arts is nothing but a study of human beings. It mainly stresses on the study of sociological and cultural aspects of the society that we live in.The number of objects that we can see in our vicinity is Arts. So, it requires reading and writing proficiency in the forefront for a better understanding. To put it simply, STREAM curriculum is nothing but an amalgamation ofcertain skills such as collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking.

This infusion of ‘Reading and writing’ into STEM model is of great significance because this increases a student’s thinking ability which is an indispensable part in learning. It has been found that writing is of great importance in any form of arts which helps a student in getting a broader view about his area of research. This would eventually make him more creative and also awake his rationale senses.The STREAM curriculum gives students an opportunity to polish their vital skills such as problem solving, innovative skill and critical thinking besides acquiring mastery over technology. So, if only STEM education is given more emphasis children would probably fail at obtaining knowledge about humanely aspects.

Like we discussed above, humanities let students to know about human society, belief and culture but hardly would people believe it has a greater connection with scientific logics. A student named Priya Venkatesan from Dartmouth college who is double majored in comparative literature and biochemistry agrees with this point of view. She found a parallel between literature and science while conducting a research on molecular biology and is of the opinion that being a literary theorist helps her to know more accurately about scientific productivity apart from understanding scientific activity

William D. Phillips, a Nobel laureate and physicist also support this view and says thatarts have helped him in developing his scientific knowledge. For instance, he says the emphasis on language paved way for him to enrich his vocabulary which in turn allowed him to take part in debating competition. This further did boost his morale in giving scientific talks later in life. His involvement in these kind of activities in high school only benefited him in shaping his career.

The above two examples prove that science and arts areinter-related with each other and if we separate one from the other it loses its essence and substance. If educators want to assist students in receiving better education, they should focus on STEM and STREAM courses simultaneously. Only then we’ll be able to produce scientists who could help in shaping a scientific community well versed in language, writing and ethics. This is of great relevance because writing enables student to excel in creativity and imagination which is a great way for development of IQ and EQ.

There is no denying of the fact that scientific learning and scientific skills are indeed importantbut withoutadding humanemotion and feeling to it, it is nothing but meaningless. The reasons remain pretty evident behind the popularity of STREAM education but one thing which needs an applause is that educators did a great job in evolving STEM to STEAM and further into STREAM for the development of modern education sector holistically. Let’s hope with these types of courses we build strong and creative professionals who would take responsibility of creating an educational dimension incorporated with enhanced pedagogical aid.