Investigating the Complexity of Developing STEAM Curricula for K-8 Students

Abstract

With the movement towards attracting today’s young learners to STEM by emphasizing the arts and humanities in K-12 education, now reconceptualized as “STEAM,” how might we ensure that STEAM instruction does not follow the limited success of STEM? One way forward is to understand the process, challenges, and successes that teachers face when approaching STEAM teaching. We explore the process of designing and enacting STEAM curricula in rural and urban middle schools in the Southeastern USA in order to inform educators. After middle school teachers participated in professional development and in-school support throughout the academic year, we analyzed data from 4 years of research to determine how teachers negotiated STEAM instruction within the complexity of schooling. Our data included observations of STEAM lessons, surveys, teachers’ journal entries, teacher-designed STEAM teaching units, and participant interviews from 48 teachers across 15 middle schools. Using these data, we then developed an instructional model to help teachers in designing effective STEAM instruction. We identify various successes and challenges in classrooms where STEAM instruction was implemented. Specifically, these included creating relevant, problem-based scenarios, approaching transdisciplinary teaching, inclusion of the arts and humanities, meaningful technology integration, and negotiating standards and assessment in rigid school environments. By highlighting these successes and challenges from participants engaged in STEAM teaching, we suggest effective STEAM pathways for researchers, teacher educators, and practitioners.