Putting the STEAM in STEM - how the arts are vital for us

Melbourne, forecourt of the Arts Centre

STEM subjects are the big focus in all levels of education, yet there remain individuals who see an urgent need to add an 'A' to the acronym - it should be STEAM. That is, in a fully innovative, integrative education, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) needs to include the arts.

For a long time, especially since the industrial revolution, we have been heading towards a mechanistic view of society where fundamentalist materialism-only thinking rules. And now with Artificial Intelligence moving ever more insidiously into our lives, that 'A' part, which is 'arts' (not 'artificial') is ever more vital.

So why is the 'A' losing traction in schools? One reason is that the expressive arts are seen as soft options and ungrounded, partly because they are less easy to quantify as a score in an exam. The STEM areas are seen as important and measurable. And vital for getting a job. This is true to a degree because so much of work is mechanistic and technology based. But are the arts really so unimportant?

If anyone cares to look, practising artists, in all fields, work with those STEM areas as tools to facilitate their inspired creative expressions. And conversely creative thinkers in STEM areas, when they move beyond a mechanistic approach, draw on their imaginative ideas and inspiration to bring forth innovation. In the richest life situations these different areas of experience and expertise work together.

Even more, the arts (including humanities) speak to thoughtfulness about our place in the wider world and the implications of our actions, past, present and future. That's important! The 'A' areas are not lesser, soft options, lacking rigour and discipline. I know, as does any artistic creator, that practice and discipline are vital. And the thinking involved must at times be rational and logical, but creativity cannot live without open imaginative thinking. Aligned with feeling this potentially taps into the highest and richest aspects of our inner life. That is vital for innovation in all fields, but is learned best through thoughtful, open-ended, heartfelt activity explored most intensely and freely in ... yes, the arts.