Intro to my Inquiry
From the beginning of my teacher training, I knew that my background as an artist would naturally be woven into my teaching pedagogy. I am always scouting out resources and insight into how other educators are modeling the methods they use as artist-teachers. One particular method is known as STEAM education. STEAM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics and is an approach to learning that encourages student inquiry, dialogue and critical thinking.
I will deep-dive into the 5 W’s of STEAM in another post but for now this is the topic I have chosen for my free inquiry project. For this project I am hoping to research, explore, create and test STEAM resources that I have found with the hopes of designing my own lesson plans.The arts played an important role in my life in teaching me about the various soft skills that create empathetic, critical thinkers who deep-dive into inquiry and problem-solving. My game plan is to use my knowledge of historical, modern and contemporary arts practices and fuse them with the current BC curriculum to deepen the understanding of my students. Another goal of this inquiry is to investigate how STEAM can be budget-friendly for all the other public-school teachers out there still paying off student loans.
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I’m kicking off my inquiry by following the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry’s question guide. In using these prompting questions as a starting point for my inquiry, I’m looking to generate some questions that will lead me down various research pathways to ensure I have a clear understanding of the ins and outs of STEAM education. Some questions that will guide me along the way:
System Questions:
How does STEAM work?
Is it attainable for those who don’t consider themselves ‘artsy’?
Value Questions:
What is the importance of steam education?
What is the value for teachers?
Theoretical Questions:
Does STEAM fit within BC’s current educational framework?
Is STEAM budget friendly?
Descriptive Questions:
What is STEAM?
Why should educators use this approach in their classroom?
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Photo Credits:
Science by Sergio Souza on Unsplash
Design thinking by Bonneval Sebastien on Unsplash
