Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/wonder/5025484/
From STEM to STEAM to STREAM
by Kirsten Haugen
By now, most of us hear the word STEM and can shout, “Science! Technology! Engineering! Math!” Not long after STEM was popularized, we realized we’d left out the arts, so we added an A to give our rallying cry more STEAM. Now, more than ever, I’d like to propose turning that STEAM into a bubbling, flowing, living STREAM by adding perhaps the most important letter of all: R for relationships.
As with streams in nature, much of the action in our educational settings takes place below the surface. Each stream is an ever-changing journey that we can connect with at any point from the bank, from within its rocky bed or even as a droplet of water or wayward leaf joining the flow. What we introduce into a stream will alter its course, minutely or dramatically, for better or worse, often far downstream. Equally so, our relationships with the children we educate and care for are formed one interaction at a time. In a cumulative way, these interactions will impact children one way or another, altering the course of their own journeys. When we prioritize ...