The kids\u00a0are in bed, or nearly so, so here are some further thoughts on this whole STEM\/STEAM business:<\/p>\n
Some time ago, I wrote that<\/a> I back in high school and college, I had a fair bit of aptitude for math and science, and wondered whether, had I been given the encouragement which a multitude of programs so diligently offer students these days, especially girls, under the rubric of STEM education, I might have chosen a \u201cSTEM field\u201d rather than heading off to study, first, public policy, and subsequently, history, putting the statistics and math in my back pocket for, as it turned out, later use.<\/p>\n Having written, during my lunch break<\/a>, about new initiatives to incorporate arts education by calling the cluster of fields \u201cSTEAM\u201d (and having gotten called out<\/a> by Virgina Postrel on Twitter), I thought it\u2019d be useful to (let\u2019s face it) ramble on about the topic a bit longer.<\/p>\n What, after all, is the point of \u201cSTEM\u201d \u2014 the label, that is, not the fields themselves? \u00a0To my knowledge (and no, I am not going to verify this by means of an extended and likely frustrating google search, and if there\u2019s an easy way to identify the origin of the term, I don\u2019t know it), the whole point of identifying these fields as worthy of special support was the belief that too many young people who had the ability to do well in these areas, were unnecessarily rejecting these fields of study because they believed (a) they were \u201ctoo hard\u201d, (b) they were \u201ctoo boring\u201d, and\/or (c) only nerds head into those fields, and you don\u2019t want to be associated with them,\u00a0<\/strong>because they have cooties \u2014 or, in any case, that only kids who have an innate talent and love of science should make the effort.<\/p>\n Besides which, again, if I\u2019m not mistaken, the concern was that there was too little attention given to these fields, and too little rigor, in the classroom, due perhaps to a notion that most kids didn\u2019t really \u201cneed\u201d this knowledge and the kids who were headed into tech fields were pick up what they needed to know on their own anyway.<\/p>\n Is the acronym artificial? \u00a0You bet \u2014 after all, aren\u2019t\u00a0technology and engineering basically the same thing? \u00a0And math? \u00a0Math as a skill is necessary for the other fields, though math for its own sake is something far more abstract and really quite apart from the others. \u00a0But the point had always been to say, \u201cyou, too, should consider science,\u201d to kids who would otherwise gravitate towards other fields of study, hadn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Which is why this business of \u201cSTEAM\u201d seems so peculiar.<\/p>\n Of course, art education is important. \u00a0And it would be a good thing for art to teach skills rather than just being a \u201cfun\u201d break in the school day. \u00a0(In the same way, incidentally, my impression of music education, even in public schools with greater resources, is that you sing and learn the basics of musical notation via a recorder; in Germany, music class continues all the way through high school, and includes significant doses of music theory.) \u00a0It probably doesn\u2019t help that art\u2019s visibility these days is in nonsense like Mattress Girl, and that actual representational art, so far as the public knows, doesn\u2019t appear to exist any longer.<\/p>\n It is, furthermore, useful to encourage art students to see tech-related fields as potential careers.<\/p>\n And, of course, when you get to specialized fields of study, one should study all the skills that are important for your line of work. \u00a0It\u2019s certainly appropriate for tech students, depending on their particular line of work, to have exposure to the design side of art.<\/p>\n But to label design as \u201ctech\u201d because it uses tools such as CAD programs feels a bit forced \u2014 is that any different than labeling communication\u00a0as a \u201ctech\u201d area\u00a0because it uses word processing software?<\/p>\n Does this really belong under the rubric \u201cSTEM\u201d or \u201cSTEM initiative\u201d? \u00a0 The objectives are different, the audiences are different. \u00a0Heck, the stereotypes are different: \u00a0\u201cdon\u2019t worry, you won\u2019t be a geek if you study a STEM field\u201d vs. well, back when I was a young\u2019un, the art kids were the burnouts who smoked in the designated smoking area, a courtyard (or maybe the loading dock?) by the cafeteria. \u00a0(Does that word exist any longer?)<\/p>\n Next question: \u00a0is there some deeper relationship between art and STEM?<\/p>\n If we just took my youngest as an example, you\u2019d say \u201cyes\u201d: \u00a0he likes art<\/a>, construction (legos<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the video didn\u2019t make it over from blogspot), and math (did I ever tell you about when he was super-excited at having learned about the \u201cten frame\u201d for addition?), and in his mind they are connected. \u00a0A re-envisioning of STEM as heavily focused on design and creativity would just ducky for him. \u00a0(Heck, my husband, too, has strengths in both areas, and his eye for visualization helps him assemble the graphics that he presents to clients.)<\/p>\n My oldest? \u00a0Oh, he\u2019d be screwed. \u00a0Well-and-truly.<\/p>\n His strength is math and science, and the more concrete, the better. \u00a0He\u2019s really looking forward to trading biology for chemistry next year, since his current teacher likes to ask lots of open-ended questions and I keep consoling him that next year it\u2019ll be better. \u00a0And not only is he so deficient in art that he can barely draw a straight line, he doesn\u2019t have any kind of \u201cartistic\u201d sensibility, even as far as art appreciation is concerned. \u00a0He is, let\u2019s face it, the kind of kid that policymakers want to wish away, when they tell girls not to be afraid of the dorks in science and tech.<\/p>\n (My middle son is somewhere in the middle \u2014 fascinated by some science concepts, like black holes, but also history, and his favorite reads are fantasy. \u00a0Can\u2019t draw a straight line either, but he has more of a sensibility for art, anyway.)<\/p>\n Final question: \u00a0what do the STEAM-ers want?<\/p>\n