Quote: Keep the Humanities in STEAM
On the *Spotlight on the Community* podcast, author Richard Lederer advocated for integrating arts into technical fields, saying, “If you love what you do, do what you love. You never work a day in your life.” He emphasized reading aloud as key to developing authentic student voice.
The push to integrate arts and humanities into STEM fields, creating STEAM, recognizes that creativity and critical thinking are essential for innovation. This educational framework aims to move beyond rote memorization, encouraging students to engage in project-based learning that tackles real-world problems and fosters a deeper understanding of complex concepts. The "A" in STEAM encompasses not just visual arts, but also language arts, music, and social sciences. This approach is championed by language expert Richard Lederer, who advocates for a deep appreciation of the English language. He is the author of over 50 books on language and humor and has been recognized as the International Punster of the Year. Lederer believes in the power of the oral tradition, emphasizing the importance of reading written work aloud to hear its rhythm and catch errors. For elementary students, integrating humanities into STEM can be as straightforward as using a storybook to inspire an engineering challenge, a concept known as "Novel Engineering." After reading a book, students identify a problem faced by a character and then design and build a solution. This approach has been successfully implemented in classrooms with books like Judy Blume's *Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing* and Roald Dahl's *James and the Giant Peach*. Other practical examples of this cross-curricular approach in K-5 classrooms include designing and building miniature Native American shelters after learning about different tribes' architectural solutions, or engineering a functional colonial-era cannon that launches edible "cannonballs" as part of a history lesson on the American Revolution. These projects allow students to apply scientific and engineering principles to solve problems rooted in historical or narrative contexts. Project-based learning that combines humanities and STEM helps students develop critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills. By designing solutions for historical challenges, such as creating a watermill used in Medieval Europe or a zen garden to understand its cultural importance in Medieval Japan, students engage with history in a tangible way. The ultimate goal of a STEAM-focused curriculum is to show students how different fields of knowledge connect and to prepare them to be more adaptable thinkers. By building a model of a historical landmark or recreating an ancient invention with a modern twist, students learn that science and history are not isolated subjects but are deeply intertwined. This interdisciplinary approach can make learning more meaningful and engaging for young learners.
