STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. From an English teaching perspective, it may initially seem tricky to encourage and integrate these subjects and ideas into our lessons.
The arts and literature stimulate and give inspiration to STEM subjects. We are preparing students for a world that doesn’t really exist yet, particularly when it comes to technology, therefore it’s not a case of trying to use technology; it’s about reading about it, talking about it and investigating it further. Here is a list of books I would encourage students to read to inspire the STEM within them (click each title to view on Amazon UK):
- Timekeepers, Simon Garfield
- The Bubble Boy, Stuart Foster
- The Stone Lion, Gwen Dandridge
- Hidden Figures (young readers’ edition), Margot Lee Shetterly
- Walking the Nile, Levison Wood
Plenty of my lessons, particularly KS3, focus on extracts chosen from a range of novels that have elements of STEM subjects within them. Many students are often considered either good at Maths and Science and therefore weaker at English or vice versa. Students who feel they are at home with STEM should be encouraged to express their knowledge through creative writing, contextual exploration and also through inference using their wider awareness of the STEM subjects.
This article originally appeared in the May 2017 edition of UKEdChat Magazine – Click here to view
@EnglishEffects Head of English – South West, UK
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