Taking STEM to STEAM and Enhancing Creativity

Through a school case study, we explore how creativity can be enhanced through the integration of the arts in approaches to science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM]. STEM approaches have achieved increasing prominence in the Australian educational context in recent years, due to the perceived benefits of improving student creativity and innovation, as well as the potential enhancement of Australia’s performance in international testing and the global economy (Office of the Chief Scientist, 2014). Incorporating the arts into STEM approaches has been identified as a potential way that creativity can be enriched (Conradty and Bogner, Creat Res J 31(3): 284–295, 2019). A key recommendation for the National Science and Innovation Agenda has been a more explicit recognition of the importance of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics [STEAM] and the arts in general (Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, 2017). This chapter discusses the benefits and challenges of STEAM approaches and examines some of the issues with implementing a whole-school approach to STEAM. It will consider key literature in relation to pedagogical approaches, teacher development and the influence of STEAM approaches on creativity. The STEAM story of a primary Western Australian Catholic school will be presented as an illustrative case study to support the discussion.