For “Our Success As A Nation,” We Don’t Need STEM, We Need CITIZEN Education To Build Our Democracy

Dayton PBS stations repeatedly show 60 second ads praising local efforts in STEM education. I get a kick out of the fervency projected by the teachers on these videos. Why is “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math” education so crucial? One teacher explains: “Our challenge is to create a vast body of talent so that the Dayton region can become an economic power.”

The notion that the aim of American public education is “economic power” seems never challenged, regardless that such an aim is more appropriate for a totalitarian state than for a democracy. Alfie Kohn notes, “Those who talk about 21st-century schools invariably follow that phrase with a reference to ‘the need to compete in a global economy.’ The goal isn’t excellence, in other words; it’s victory. Education is first and foremost about being first and foremost.”

The idea that American education should be dedicated to making America first and foremost should be an idea that is challenged. We need an in-depth discussion about how to define the aim of American education. One of the STEM videos, shown below, shows an earnest sounding teacher proclaiming this aim for education: “Employers in our region need a knowledgeable and high tech work force and that’s what we plan to deliver.” I could imagine the Education Minister of North Korea making the same sort of declarations and promises, but, since when has that been considered the aim of American schools?

President Obama sounds like he wants an system of public education that will make America first and foremost. He is on record as supporting STEM education via comments such as this: “Our success as a nation depends on strengthening America’s role as the world’s engine of discovery and innovation. But, “our success as a nation” is not measured by the degree we dominate other nations, but, rather, by the degree we reach the goal of liberty and justice for all in our own nation.

As it is, the amount of liberty and justice an individual enjoys in our society is directly related to the amount of money he or she has, and, the problem is, many Americans simply don’t have enough money. Yes, ginning up more discovery and more innovation, via science and technology, will bring in a flood of new wealth. But, since our society is not wisely distributing the wealth it already has, it seems a safe bet that this new wealth, however large, “trickling down,” will not bring liberty and justice to all, any more than the vast wealth generated in the last twenty years succeeded in accomplishing such a goal.

We are far from enjoying a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” The injustice and lack of liberty in our society will not be solved via new wealth, our only hope to achieve our national goal, frequently reaffirmed in our pledge to the flag, is to vitalize our democracy. Such a vitalization will require an educated and involved citizenry.

Suppose we agree that the aim of our system of public education is to prepare citizens to have the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to fully develop their individual potentials and to fully participate in and contribute to our democracy. Interestingly, in-depth STEM education would have a big part to play in such a system of education. STEM seeks to develop the whole individual, seeks to develop holistic thinking, seeks to develop the capacity to see the big picture, think independently, and to problem solve — all traits valuable for citizens in a democracy. Here is one list of goals for STEM education, from “Attributes of the STEM educated student,” by Janice Morrison:

Students should be:

  • Problem-solvers — able to frame problems as puzzles and then able to apply understanding and learning to these novel situations (argument and evidence) !
  • Innovators — “power to pursue independent and original investigation”
  • Inventors — recognize the needs of the world and creatively design and implement solutions !
  • Self-reliant — able to set own agendas, develop and gain self-confidence and work within time specified time frames !
  • Logical thinkers — using the logic offered by calculus and found in 60% of all professions world-wide; able to make the kinds of connections to affect an understanding of natural phenomena
  • Technologically literate — understand the nature of the technology, master the skills needed and apply it appropriately (Knowledge, Ways of Thinking and Acting, and Capabilities as specified by ITEA in Technically Speaking)
  • Participants in the STEM lexicon that supports the bridge between STEM education in school and the workplace
  • Able to relate their own culture and history to their education

STEM education overlaps with those very skills needed for effective citizenry. But developing effective and prepared citizens should be the first emphasis, not a second thought. We need an acronym for education that prepares citizens to be full participants in their democracy. How about calling it CITIZEN education — Character, Independent, Thoughtful, Intelligent, Zestful, Enterprising, Notable — where the aim of our system of public education is to prepare citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to be fully participating and effective citizens and where the fact they may also be prepared to participate in a “knowledgeable and high tech work force” is a very secondary goal.

It is a nice thought that at sometime in the near future there might be 60 second videos on PBS with fervent sounding teachers telling about how PBS is helping with CITIZEN education.

Watch A Partnership for STEM Education on PBS. See more from STEM.

Watch The Thinkers of Tomorrow on PBS. See more from STEM.

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One Response to For “Our Success As A Nation,” We Don’t Need STEM, We Need CITIZEN Education To Build Our Democracy

  1. Eric says:

    President Obama sounds like he wants an system of public education that will make America first and foremost.

    President Obama disappointed his core supporters in many ways. He failed to even attempt to inspire his supporters in the way anticipated by his wife.

    So we have Organizing/Obama For America participating in the Hughes High School Ice Cream for Votes scandal. Perhaps our President could acquaint his supporters with the purposes of public education so they stop embarrassing him.

    Citizenship has always been a core mission of public education. Are teachers prepared for their mission? By What Means?

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