Why STEAM isn’t just hot air
<strong>Why STEAM isn’t just hot air</strong>
<strong> </strong>In recent years, the Government has placed huge emphasis on the importance of STEM subjects in education (<u>S</u>cience, <u>T</u>echnology, <u>E</u>ngineering and <u>M</u>athematics). Fortuitously these coincide with the natural interests and strengths of a large number of LGS boys. However, there is a growing belief that there is a letter missing from this acronym and that STE<u>A</u>M would be preferable with the additional ‘A’ standing for the ‘Arts’. STEAM as an acronym includes an acknowledgement of the importance of the creativity that our future leading scientists will require to solve the problems that the world is facing.
For some time Loughborough Grammar School has been developing a reputation for the excellence of its STEM education that stretches far beyond the East Midlands. There are two main aspects to this. Firstly, there is what goes on in the classroom, and the Governors decided more than a decade ago that LGS needed the very best science facilities. We have also been fortunate to recruit and retain extremely well-qualified staff, who relish the opportunity to teach a large number of motivated young scientists. Secondly, we have for several years now prepared boys for success in national STEM competitions, such as Teen Tech. Boys’ awards have led to television appearances, interviews in the national press and invitations to international competitions. Thanks to our boys’ participation in events in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, the Chinese agents who recruit many of our boarders are well aware of the STEM excellence of Loughborough Grammar School.
Most readers will know that, a year ago, Mrs Kaur was given the title of Head of STEM Innovation in order to develop further our range of STEM activities. This very week, all boys have attended a presentation highlighting the opportunities available to them over the course of the coming academic year. Mrs Kaur will also ensure that details of events appear regularly in our Friday e-newsletter. She is well aware that, for boys to be successful, they need a creative flair. Indeed, when we were discussing her new post, I wanted to name her the ‘Head of STEAM’ in recognition of the role that the Arts have in contributing to scientific innovation. Ultimately, some colleagues persuaded me that this sounded silly, and that it might suggest that she worked for another of Loughborough’s finest institutions, the Great Central Railway, rather than a school.
This little ‘A’ is actually very important, and in a broad GCSE curriculum of 9 or 10 subjects, perhaps every boy should find room for a subject that develops his creativity such as Art, DT, Music or Drama? These disciplines help to promote lateral thinking – a skill, for example, that is so important for the research scientist, whose progress is rarely linear. We should not forget that the UK is an international leader in the creative industries, which, according to Government figures in 2017, were worth £92 billion to the British economy. However, the national focus on STEM is having a negative effect on the Arts. Since the Government started promoting the ‘EBacc’ of so-called ‘academic’ subjects in 2015-16, there has been a 28% drop in the number of children taking creative GCSEs.
Therefore, we are looking for ways to enable gifted scientists to keep in contact with their artistic selves as they move into A Level study. Unlike many competitor schools that have reduced their A Level curriculum to only three subjects, LGS has decided that boys will begin Sixth Form with four subjects. Engineering is the most popular degree course for our leavers (35 in 2017 and 2018), and for pupils with this career aspiration, DT or Art A Level is the perfect foil to Mathematics and Physics. Sixth Formers from this year onwards are also doing an independent project as part of their curriculum: either the national EPQ qualification or our own award. This is another opportunity for them to keep their creative interests going alongside their choice of A Levels.
Therefore, please resist the temptation to see the creative subjects as little more than a pleasant distraction. Even if you son knows that he is a scientist already, remember that this country needs engineers and other STEM experts with design flair. We can’t afford the next generation of scientists to have only narrow academic skills. We must try to encourage our boys to think creatively in order to build up a head of steam to help solve the problems that society has created.
<em>See an article in </em><a href=”https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/03/why-the-arts-are-needed-to-put-the-a-into-steam/”><em>The Spectator</em></a><em> from March 2018</em>