Sun, Jul 14, 2019 3:54 PM
Creating a STEM Culture for teaching and Learning
I just finished reading"Creating a STEM Culture for Teaching and Learning" by Jeff Weld, NSTA press. The book is very insightful as to the Rise of STEM. The importance of relationships between business and the educational community is highlighted when the book discusses Iowa's STEM Professional Network from the planning years of 2007 to 2011, all the way through year 4 in 2014-2015.
The book discusses how the local community was so integral in the early years of formalized education. As the 1920's arrived, with the desire for higher expectations, specialized learning, and school buses, the community connections to schooling fell apart. Our youth were trucked off to regional schools, divided into grade levels and taught the universal curriculum. Our children were either factory job-ready or set up for college.
Fast forward to current time, STEM is proving to be very effective, resulting in resource pool expansion. 'The federal budget included nearly $3 billion for STEM education in 2016. The private sector's annual investment in STEM education is estimated at well over $1 billion annually, with companies like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman each investing over $13 million each year, according the the recent Washington Post article "Growing Roots for More STEM."'
As we heard during our time in Baltimore, the '2011 McKinsey Global Institute study "An Economy That Works: Job Creation and America's Future" noted that enrollment trends portend that in the next decade the United States will produce twice as many graduates in the social sciences and business as in STEM, and that if nothing is done to redirect the interests of some of these graduates toward STEM we can expect an exacerbated shortage of qualified candidates for technical jobs.'
Relationships between our schools and local businesses is crutial to solving this economic problem. As a middle school teacher, to motivate students to pursue these STEM careers, the learning needs to be locally generated, real world curriculium; problem based, interdisciplinary teaching that is student centered; student interests will steer instruction; and learning must also occur beyond school walls; are just a few important elements for success.
As I return to my school in early August, I will keep these reasons in mind for observing our current culture, and questioning my fellow teachers and leaders, are we meeting the needs of our students for a profitable future for living and working in St. Augustine Florida, 2025 and beyond.