STEM - Systematic Transmutation of Empathetic Minds

(From Mike Rutherford's lyrics to "Land of Confusion" by Genesis)

STEM in education circles stands for Science, Technology, Education, and Math. It is a significant factor in the justification for many of the education reforms we are undergoing as a nation. Common core standards, technology initiatives, project-based learning, and a focus on cross-curricular collaboration are all closely associated with a nationwide focus on STEM. Sounds like a logical, worthwhile, and beneficial endeavor.

STEM is being championed as an initiative that will provide our younger generation with the marketable skills to succeed in the global workforce by preparing students with the knowledge to obtain careers in the fastest growing and most influential industries on the planet. In doing so, the success of STEM initiatives will also play a large part in helping the United States regain a dominant position in the global economic marketplace. Sounds like some more pretty legitimate reasoning. In fact, it almost sounds too good to be true.

And wouldn't you know...it probably is. When digging a little deeper, as usual the devil lies in the details. It's true that development of STEM skills is essential if our future generations want to live a life of prosperity, because regardless of where people stand on the technology divide, the inevitability of a sci-fi reality is practically unavoidable. The question is: Will STEM skills and the people that employ them be used to continue creating prosperity for a few, or to try and create peace and prosperity for all?

Currently, the situation is bleak. An article published by Forbes, titled The Companies With The Most STEM Job Openings Right Now, begins to tell the story. Those companies are:

1) Amazon
2) Lockheed Martin

3) General Dynamics

4) Oracle
5) Diverse Lynx

6) CSC

7) Northrop Grumman

8) AppLabs

9) IBM

10) JP Morgan Chase Co.

Of course it is completely logical that the largest demand for technology jobs comes from some of the world's most successful and well known technology companies. It is equally logical that there would be a high demand for engineering skills in the "defense" industry.

The grave concern arises, however, when considering what these companies collectively contribute to society. The list above is a one-stop shop of corporations that continue to create, develop, support and refine the processes, protocols and infrastructure that encourage people to readily accept:

• unreserved mining, trading, and exploitation of of personal data
• government agencies' unmitigated intrusion into citizens lives with complete disregard for people's constitutional rights
• the degradation of the natural world as a necessary part of "doing business"
• a military industrial complex which uses profits as justification for perpetual war

With that in mind, it seems that some serious thought and discussion needs to happen regarding how we educate students on the ways in which acquired STEM skills are focused. Are they going to be used to perpetuate the accepted norm or to do quite the opposite? Are STEM skills going to be used as a means of achieving individual, financial success at all costs, or as a means to acquire financial stability while also contributing to global economic, political, and environmental stability? Are they going to promote the spread of equality, compassion and global political transparency, or are they going to ignorantly fuel a system that, on a daily basis is quite literally destroying personal freedoms, a sustainable future, and individual lives?

STEM is here and its evolution is accelerating. Unfortunately, it exists in a world littered with history's naive attempts to move society forward with inventions and advancements that were initially designed to benefit humankind, but were eventually co-opted as a means to consolidate power, exacerbate economic inequality, destroy natural resources, and perfect the institution of war.

As it is often stated, "With great power, comes great responsibility", and ultimately, STEM is designed to help students access the global economic and political power of the future. Consequently, an integral part of a STEM education needs to balance the skills being taught with ways to use those skills for responsibly meeting humankind's true needs. Perhaps STEM should be encouraged to grow alongside a set of classroom initiatives that could be labeled TREE (Tolerance, Respect, Equality and Empathy).  Since there are no curricular mandates, federal funding, or educational standards on the horizon to address basic human decency, it is imperative that educators integrate TREE values as a vital component in STEM education.  

For the sheer sake of having fun with acronyms, how about this: Lets prevent STEM from becoming the Systematic Transmutation of Empathetic Minds and instead co-opt it to Sustainably, Technologically Empower the Masses. Hell, it's worth a shot.

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A song with the sentiment: As  a lover of music I get many ideas and much inspiration from the music around me. As a result, I aim to include a song or video with each blog post that echoes at least some of the ideas shared in that particular posting. This week's artist is Disturbed doing a metal inspired cover of the Genesis song "Land of Confusion". Enjoy!

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Thanks for reading. Please share your opinions, comments, stories, strategies, suggestions and well articulated criticisms. Follow me on Twitter @teachtothetruth or contact me via email at teachagainst@gmail.com