Full STEAM ahead

Parents looking to enrol their children in early childhood education will likely have heard of the STEM educational approach to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Recently, however, a movement has begun in which STEM is being supplanted by STEAM, which has a focus on integrating Arts into the rest of the curriculum.

An educational philosophy now commonly adopted by private schools in the United States, and increasingly, Hong Kong, STEAM aims not just to teach art as a separate subject from maths and science, but to combine the disciplines in a holistic manner. This enables students to develop a flexible, fluid approach to thinking and problem-solving.

“If you ask an architect to design a house, what’s the first thing they’re going to do?” asks John Jalsevac, school director at the American School Hong Kong (ASHK). “Designing a house is very scientific, but the first thing they’re going to do is a sketch, or a digital rendering. STEAM is very much about the overlap of the scientific realm with the artistic realm.”

STEAM is also known for its strong emphasis on project-based learning. According to Jalsevac, STEAM schools such as ASHK acquire “kits” from partnering companies, such as Pearson Education. These contain all the necessary materials for students to embark on group projects, in which they must work together to plan, design and, ultimately, build something useful.

Jalsevac adds that prior to the projects’ practical execution, teachers provide students with the relevant concepts and foundational knowledge needed. When the project begins, however, the teacher acts more like a “guide on the side”, as opposed to the “sage on the stage”. This way, children are given the freedom to create, innovate and at times, make mistakes on their own.

“These are Grade 3 tasks, and they’re learning, they’re engaged, they’re sorting things out, and they’re having fun at the same time,” explains Jalsevac.