By Karen A. Bellenir
Photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam on Unsplash.
Across the U.S. students are preparing to return to classes. Some will attend in person. Others will sit in virtual classes. Many will experience a bit of both.
Questions about how they will learn currently overshadow discussions about what they will learn. For many years, schools have adopted a curricular focus known by the acronym STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.
The U.S. Department of Education promotes this emphasis, asserting, “If we want a nation where our future leaders, neighbors, and workers have the ability to understand and solve some of the complex challenges of today and tomorrow, and to meet the demands of the dynamic and evolving workforce, building students' skills, content knowledge, and fluency in STEM fields is essential.”
This attention on STEM, makes use of a plant metaphor in which a stem provides the essential scaffolding that supports the entire structure. Without a stem, the symbolic plant falls over; society collapses.
While STEM subjects are vital, the allegorical association highlights the limitations of promoting them to the detriment of other important topics. For example, a stem will not live long without roots, and roots will not thrive when they are separated from the fuel-producing activities of a leaf structure. With these thoughts in mind, I’d like to offer some examples of complementary subjects needed to produce a healthy stem and a well-rounded STEM student.
ROOTS
Relationships
Online etiquette
Outdoor play
Trustworthiness
Social responsibility
LEAF
Languages
Ethics
Arts
Financial literacy
Perhaps expanding beyond the stem and recognizing the talents, worth, and contributions of people across a broader spectrum of disciplines will yield a society better prepared to bloom into something truly spectacular.