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STEM Background
STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There is a national STEM programme with an especially convened STEM Board providing advice and guidance to ministers. In the school curriculum the STEM subjects are science, design & technology, engineering and mathematics. These subjects have an important role to play as individual subjects within the STEM programme but within the programme there is a growing awareness that the relationship between these subjects is important and some STEM activities should explore interdisciplinary connections.
STEM as a national initiative has been with us for only a short time. The changing status of design & technology within this initiative is intriguing. The original Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Report in 2006 virtually ignored the subject (see The Report). The report of the seminar at the Royal Society held in May 2007 was much more positive acknowledging the important part that design & technology could play if the school curriculum could be adapted to mirror the relationships between science, mathematics and technology that exist in the world outside school (see The Report). Yet in January 2008 a meeting of the STEM Advisory Forum at the DCSF saw such a large emphasis on Science and Mathematics that it was really a SM Forum! The papers relating to this meeting are available here. It was clear that improvement in science and mathematics education at 14 – 19 and beyond into FE and HE formed the major drivers of the programme. This includes making three separate science GCSE qualifications an entitlement for pupils wishing to pursue such a programme on the basis that this will provide greater uptake at A level.
John Holman, National STEM Director, argues that it is important to understand the position of science and maths. Firstly the country needs some young people to be good at maths and science to become the mathematicians and scientists of the future. Second maths and science are gatekeeper subjects for a wide range of STEM based careers and occupations. So a further group of young people need to be good at maths and science. Failure to achieve improvement in maths and science in both quality and quantity will have serious consequences. This does not necessarily detract from the contribution to be made by design & technology but that contribution does have to be put in this context. There are already some indicators as to growing recognition of the contribution of design & technology.
The Design & Technology Association has been officially invited to join the 5-19 STEM Programme Board that replaces the School Science and the 5-19 Mathematics Boards from February 2008. The Association is now seen as a Representative Body along with the Association for Science Education, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society and Research Councils Europe. So design & technology has a voice at the highest level. Part of the continuing professional development programme to support STEM includes science-based cpd for design & technology teachers. The intention of this cpd is to enable design & technology teachers to enable their pupils to use their scientific knowledge and understanding to enhance the quality of their designing. This is good news for the design & technology community as it starts to acknowledge the dynamic relationship that could and should exist between the school subjects science and design & technology.
Some would argue that the STEM programme has everything to gain by a dynamic and high profile contribution from design & technology and that the subject is now sufficiently well recognised and well represented to be able to make that contribution. Now it is up to design and technology teachers to get involved and show the rest of the STEM community just what a powerful role they can play. (See Barlex, D. & Holman, J. (2008) D&T News, Issue 38, April 2008. The Design and Technology Association).
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, Apr 22 2008, 4:09 PM EDT
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