This may be an unpopular opinion but I am going to state it anyway. It’s more an exercise in thinking than it is an argument.
I no longer want STEM or STEAM or DesignThinking or Making in our schools.
That’s right. You read it correctly.
No STEM.
No STEAM.
No DesignThinking.
No Making.
At least not in the way it is being implemented in some schools.
As with many things in education, when something becomes a buzzword, it’s implementation may be in name only.
When administrators are trying to utilize canned “STEM” or “Maker” programs or lessons that teachers must follow step by step in order to implement, the principles of design thinking, the maker movement and STEM are being ignored.
What makes these things so successful in implementation is that there are no rules, no canned programs, no checklists that work every time. Students need to try and fail, create, make, reiterate. They do not need to follow a prescribed list of steps.
So let’s not simply pretend to implement STEM or STEAM or Making or Design Thinking.
Our students deserve better.
Rich (@RACzyz)
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