Comments on: Moving a Mountain: STEM Education, from Concept to Reality http://getideas.org/thought-leader/moving-a-mountain-stem-education-from-concept-to-reality-2/ The Community for Education Leaders Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:28:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Edward http://getideas.org/thought-leader/moving-a-mountain-stem-education-from-concept-to-reality-2/#comment-1943 Edward Sat, 26 May 2012 14:58:33 +0000 http://getideas.org/?post_type=cisco_thought_leader&p=13593#comment-1943 Mr. Wells,I agree with the three important steps you identified; strengthening our teaching core, integrating subject matter and connecting to real world issues and the developing the underrepresented are all extremely important.  I cannot agree with you more about the changes that must take place for the good of not only our children’s future, but for our communities, our country, and our world (sorry for the 4-H Pledge reference).Awareness + Acceptance + Action = ChangeTo explore this topic, I have to share the filter that I use.  First and foremost I am a father of a wonderful young woman.  I also have spent my entire adult career in non-formal education and positive youth development.  I conduct parent education, I mentor, and I give back however and wherever I can because I want to give more to the world than I take.Now as I ran your thoughts through my filter and I looked at the STEM education and workforce crisis we are facing, I realize that there is so much more everyone can do to address this issue, this issue of course is a societal issue and everyone must be involved finding the answers.  Looking at the equation, there is a great deal of awareness, there is a high level of acceptance, but in order for change to really take place, we need to address the variable of action.Yes, action is taking place but we need to shore up the foundation and look at big picture.  The level of action is evolving and I have confidence that it will occur, but in my experience, actions are still somewhat disjointed.  Each stakeholder group is addressing the issues within their locus, and there has been growth strategizing with others with similar concerns, but as a system we have a long way to go.The STEM issue is one of the most talked about issues in the USA.  I could easily fill my calendar with events, meetings, discussions, conferences and classes that address it.  Education is talking about it, as are corporations, as are educators and almost every youth serving organization I can think of.In addition to your wonderful thoughts and insights, I see several other strategies to offer. Steps are being taken to coordinate efforts with K-12 education, higher education, non-formal education, and business.  I am sure that the efficiency of these partnerships will come with time.  My only concern is that not everyone is on the bus that needs to be…yet.As this rattled around inside my brain, an old joke came to mind…How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?  One, but the light bulb has to want to change.As all of these groups work to address this issue, we also need to look at it from all angles.  How do we make STEM content areas need fulfilling for the youth?  How do we motivate them (and in many cases, how do we stop “unmovtivating” them) to gain and retain interest in STEM education and the potential careers they may one day choose?Once we get them into the pipeline, how do we keep them there?  I was one that exited that pipe and I can identify several key reasons why that happened in my case.I have three decades of experience working with youth, youth development, family development, training, and non-formal education.  One key element that I haven’t heard too many people talking about is the family.  In addition to all of the wonderful ideas you shared about preparing teachers, and changing the political milieu, we need to address the continuum and include the factors that are not yet fully explored including family and linking non-formal and formal education together.How can we also address this issue by creating the family support necessary for the children to be successful in the STEM content areas?  If parents are themselves intimidated by STEM content areas, how can we work to tear down those barriers?  How can we find the support mechanisms for students that have interest and/or abilities in STEM content areas to continue and not lose interest if there isn’t support at home?  I am not talking about parents having to help their children complete their algebra homework, rather having them support their child’s dreams and aspirations and helping them explore options.  How can we link formal and non-formal education together to work in concert?  How can non-formal educators strengthen programming by looking at career choices and alternatives as part of their process?  True some are doing this, but just as true some are not.  My only suggestion is that all of these areas need to be strengthened.  Finally, once all this has been finished, how do we make sure that all students are playing on the same level field?Equity is one of my core values which brings me around to my interest in all things related to diversity.  If we look at our society and our founding fathers, it is easy to see that this country was founded by rich, white, landowners.When a particular group is in power, they do what they can to maintain that power and control.  This “one-over” mentality then trickles down through the groups as each tries to strengthen and solidify their stature in the continuum of power.  There are many examples:  white over black, male over female, rich over poor, educated over non-educated, heterosexual over gay, it goes on and on.Now unfortunately, until we become a “one-with” society where we are all seen and recognized as being equal rather than a “one-over” society where there are institutional “isms”, this is an uphill battle.  Wouldn’t it be ideal if there was a level playing field and regardless of the dimension of diversity, all had equal opportunity?  We must continue to fight that fight and address the inequities of the institutional “isms” wherever we exist.During this past week, I had the both the pleasure and the honor to represent our National 4-H Science team at the National Center for Woman & Information Technology (NCWIT) Summit in Chicago.  I love to immerse myself into learning opportunities and this one was well worth it.One of the workshops I attended was by Dr. Joshua Aronson an Associate Professor of Applied Psychology at NYU.  Dr. Aronson shared research that he has been doing on Stereotype Threat, a topic we should all take some time to explore.  I learned a lot about the influences of stereotypes and how they influence performance.As thought leaders and system changers, we must all continue to conduct our due diligence, to find the pieces of the puzzles.Thank you for sharing the five principles of good programs by BEST, and they match up with my own of intensity, frequency, duration, systematic, and intentional.  The only thing that I would like to offer to your insight on, “led by passionate committed professionals” is that this could also include the facilitation of learning by any caring and committed adult that understands and can utilize inquiry-based learning.Thank you Mr. Wells for making me sit down and “think” about this.  You are a thought leader and I appreciate the opportunity.

]]> By: Eman http://getideas.org/thought-leader/moving-a-mountain-stem-education-from-concept-to-reality-2/#comment-1940 Eman Thu, 24 May 2012 18:30:53 +0000 http://getideas.org/?post_type=cisco_thought_leader&p=13593#comment-1940 Nice post. With the same goal in mind, I would like to share another initiative at the University of Texas-Austin; The Freshman Research initiative (FRI). By getting undergraduates involved in research during their first 2 years in college, FRI has been very successful in improving STEM graduation rate and students’ retention in science especially among underrepresented groups.

http://fri.cns.utexas.edu/

Thank you,

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