Ensuring children are engaged in their education is a crucial part of their development, both
academically and socially.
It plays a huge role in their formative years and helps to shape the adults they grow up to be. It also has a significant influence on their passions and interests, which in turn can help them carve out a future career path.
Every student is unique, which means teaching has to span a wide scope of subjects – beyond the traditional academic pillars of science, English and maths.
That’s where STEAM education can prove so important, but what exactly is it and how does it differ from STEM learning? Read on to find out more.
What is STEAM education?
The acronym STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. It can help children to develop a variety of skills including communication, problem solving and thinking strategically.
It’s a form of teaching that encourages hands-on, practical participation and can be adapted to suit both the classroom and the home environment.
For example, there are plenty of STEAM-based toys and resources that can make learning fun – a vital part of the process, especially when seeking to connect with students who are particularly disengaged.
From STEM to STEAM
As you might have guessed, STEM education is much the same as STEAM – just without the arts- based elements involved.
There are plenty of benefits of STEM learning but in recent years there has been a noticeable shift to place greater importance on qualities such as creativity and innovation.
Combining these abilities with the more technical aspects of science, technology, engineering and maths will help to develop more rounded students with a more expansive skill set. This in turn will provide them with a wider range of options.
That solid foundation allows them to scope out a diverse selection of roles on the job market or narrow their focus to a specific niche if they choose to pursue further education.
The importance of STEAM education
It’s vital to implement STEAM practices from an early age, so that students become accustomed to this way of learning at a time where they soak up so much information.
Teaching in this way means the education can be personalised to suit each child and their unique needs, rather than a one-size- fits-all approach that may leave some feeling marginalised or disengaged.
It helps them to develop some of the soft skills mentioned earlier – collaboration, problem solving, creativity – and gets them ready for the world of work once their studies draw to a close.
