“Alphabet Soup” flickr photo by Thriving Vegetarian https://flickr.com/photos/thrivingveg/8485913543 shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

The STEM Crisis

We needed students in science and math. So we “created STEM.”

Then folks decided that art needed a place in design thinking so we made “STEAM.”

Then another smart someone decided that all of this work required texts we read so we created “STREAM.” The R is for “reading.”

Soon a soothsayer will decide STREAM requires civic engagement and citizenship and decide we need Social Studies leading to “STREAMSS”

We used to call this “School”

STEM isn’t a class or subject. It is a way of being, thinking, and doing.

Iterative design in the process of knowledge creation.

The only STEM crisis is our addiction to alphabet soup.