STEAM integration

Abstract

There has been growing interest to establish curriculum integration in secondary schools due the promotion of relevant contexts used in programmes. This project has examined the role of a STEAM programme with junior secondary school students using future focussed inquiries which included Science, Environment, Technology, the Arts, and Mathematics. To explore the potential role of STEAM programmes, a group of teachers from a New Zealand and a Japanese international school participated in a design-based intervention. While curriculum integration has been a feature of learning in many primary schools, secondary teachers who are usually subject specialists are faced with the challenge of how to design and facilitate cross-curricular inquiries using STEAM. To meet this challenge, the teachers and curriculum developers considered the interface between their conceptions of cross-curricular inquiry and taking practical steps to implement such a programme. The project investigated pedagogies to develop skills in cross-curricular project work, new themes to exemplify integrated STEAM learning, and a model of professional development that would support this approach.