I think that one of the most essential elements of being a STEM teacher is to go beyond Science Technology Engineering Math alone, and embrace Arts as a vital component of what can be called STEAM instead. Science without benefit of the arts - both the liberal arts and the fine arts - is severely cut off from the reality of the human experience. It takes fine arts like design and aesthetic analysis to really grasp the sweep and depth of the information that science makes available to us. It takes liberal arts like history and philosophy to appreciate, and perhaps direct, the sheer power that science provides to the human species. There is an objection that such a broad category doesn't sufficiently isolate STEM from other disciplines and understandings - but those who would so object miss the point that avoiding such isolation is the goal. STEM is about conveying the facts and principles that underlie the modern world. STEAM is about putting those in a human context, for good and ill, and for past and future.
What does it mean to teach with STE(A)M
