Fostering STEAM: an equity and mindset-based approach to supporting educators

Abstract:

The Fostering STEAM program supports both out-of-school and in-school educators in offering equity-based STEAM programming. The program relies on a set of STEAM practices that we established through design-based research centered on out-of-school programs for girls. The practices are inherently interdisciplinary and are centered around the ideas of a growth mindset and identity work. Growth mindset has been recently highlighted in the literature as a key strategy for increasing youth motivation, resiliency, and achievement. We built on the notion of a growth mindset to establish a STEAM mindset, which emphasizes ideas such as quieting the inner negative voice, privileging process over product, promoting enthusiasm and playfulness, and focusing on activities with multiple possible outcomes. We previously showed that our approach resulted in growth among participating girls in several areas: attitude about science, self-concept of science ability, interest in science, understanding of the nature of science, and self-concept of art ability. Now, we are putting our practices to work in our teacher professional development program. In this presentation, we share our STEAM practice framework and discuss ways in which educators are taking up these practices.