STEAM Education: Fostering creativity in and beyond secondary schools

Abstract

Current educational policy is dominated by a discourse of transferability, scalability and innovation, within a climate politicised by ‘creative industries’ and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education in Australia. STEM has been promoted as an authentic and engaging approach to education, particularly as Australia tries to boost its performance in international testing. However, STEM has consistently been challenged by STEAM, where ‘arts and design’ represent the ‘A’. STEAM advocates for creativity and expression to be included as a core part of any interdisciplinary approach. There is no defensible reason why the ‘A’ of arts should not be included in domain interco..