Recent research shows that STEAM is a promising approach to positively impacting student achievement and teacher efficacy. So we can finally remove the brick walls and classroom doors to get at the heart of learning.

It takes what we do when we open the doors to the real world and places those same practices in our cycles of teaching and learning. Integrating concepts, topics, standards and assessments is a powerful way to disrupt the typical course of events for our students and to help change the merry-go-round of “school.”

Why do we believe that we have the ability or the right to box it in behind brick walls and classroom doors in a place called school? Our world is a beautiful, complex, and intricate tapestry of learning all in its own right. None of us go outside and look at a tree and say, “that’s a tree, so that’s science” or, “the sky is blue, so that’s art.” We are at a point where it is not only possible, but imperative that we facilitate learning environments that are fluid, dynamic, and relevant. But what does that look like? We are preparing students for jobs that don’t even exist. For far too long in education, we’ve been working with the presumption of teaching to ensure our students get a “good job”.

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