Do you think following a STEAM approach will contribute to quality Visual Art Education in Australia?

NO

"I understand why STEAM is attractive but the main thing that I have experiences is the Art part being limited to graphic drawing and a much more limited use of many media as well as knowledge of the history and culture of Art making. As said previously Art may well be a small part of a semester where students will make an engineered product and use Media film and other skills based techniques to record while the Art part is identified as creative response."

"STEAM invites art educators to deny ourselves the right to work in our discpline and honour the particular intellectual benefits it brings to stduents' learning and culture more generally. Rather than fit the STEAM agenda we cshould be working to raise awareness of how our discipline is distinctive and vital on intellectual terms. It is another fad that will not hold. It is also another measn for rationalising the curriculum in a time when percpetions are all about falling levels of students learning - maybe the tests are not the right ones to be consulting in this space! Integartion is a political expediency in my view that denies proper rspect for dynamic and rich learning areas such as art."

"Although I think that the visual arts works well in any curriculum area, I do not feel that the arts has a place in STEM. There should be some Design in STEM - but Visual Art is not design. STEM needs creativity that is true, but this is true or all curriculum areas. Creativity should not be confused with Visual Arts as a subject. Visual artists, and visual arts students should not be made to conform to a brief - and I think that by putting visual arts in STEM it becomes constrained and limited. Although I wholeheartedly agree that science and technology can benefit from seeking advice from artists, making it happen in a school situation is problematic. In an area where we already have to continuously fight to be recognised - there is a very real risk of being lost altogether and being absorbed into STEAM."

"it's fashion and a political commodity"

"While any initiative that brings art back into the classroom should be encouraged, I think STEAM doesn't maintain the diversity available in The Arts that can be delivered via the curriculum. It loses its scope and variety."

Maybe

"STEAM at least lifts the profile. The concern is that it leads to a facile understanding and implementation of VA curriculum"

"It depends on the training and quality of teachers and whether schools are given adequate support and resources, especially in primary schools and schools in regional areas."

"Discussions and trials of STEAM certainly support the relevance of arts education but tend to be imbedded to the point that The Arts become subsumed in the process and are no longer identifiable. There is also a tendency to water down the rigour of Arts knowledge and education to serve the other stakeholders on the project. STEM/STEAM is a great addition to a curriculum package but not a replacement."

"The potential is there for the STEAM agenda to improve what we currently can do in relation to visual art learning. There is also the potential for STEAM to be a passing fad."

"I think focussing on certain subjects drives out other subjects. At the moment it is hard to get a job unless you are a maths or science teacher. Maths, Science and English are considered 'important' subjects. Art has all of those subjects within it and enables a kinaesthetic learning style, which many youth are. So Art is important, and I think needs emphasis, but at the moment it is way less than the other subjects. This is a battle for equality rather than to be emphasised."

"I honestly think that until you can improve the calibre of your educators across many school settings, that the visual arts will continue to be disregarded."

"The understanding of StEAM and ways to integrate the Arts is a concern for me, professional learning and training is needed here. I find it strange that many conversations about innovation do not include creativity. I would like to see the Arts add to the teaching of StEM, but I personally would like more opportunities to explore and understand ways to to teach in this approach."

"the desired outcomes need to clear and transparent as well as sufficiently well funded."

"My school won't allow us the contribute, ignoring our request to be included. It's called stem!! The visual art curriculum is being high jacked!"

"I was told recently in a STEAM committee meeting that arts teachers need to teach more science and math in our classes. I do not think this is the goal of STEAM. We seem to blindly follow whatever trend is coming out of USA. Is this a strategy that is achieving its goals?"

"Art can help develop thinking in other learning areas, although, it is quite different to other semiotic sign systems (e.g. language, maths notations, scientific notations etc) and unique in how it enables learning. I am sad when people justify VA because it enables literacy. That's a limited view. I worry that STEAM may limit the view of VA."

"If done well, yes. Needs to be have a balance approach by quality teaching. I also think there is a need for STEM specialist teachers also."

"It depends on how the visual arts are integrated. Hopefully it won't be a token subject."

"Often artists are not good teachers. Good teachers are not always artists. I cant be bothered with acronyms. Its a kind of hit or miss, and students are lucky if they get turned on to art because of a good teacher. I dont think artists are necessarily any better teachers then anyone else. Students learn a lot from teachers who give it a go, its about a positivr can do attitude and by using good art guides and resources."

"It depends whether the arts is in the mix or just stem which exclude the arts? Is the the ideas of interdisciplinary teaching using STEAM more than window dressing or another change to curriculum that is driven by political interest? The idea that the Arts leads to innovation because of the fundamental creative nature of the subject is an attractive idea for the future direction of Visual Arts. It could raise the status of the subject."

"Integrated approaches when used to address real world challenges and problem solving can be successful but still remain problematic for traditional school structures in terms of staffing and timetabling. Authentic learning experiences such as STEAM project work can be great for engagement but may not always provide students with the sufficient level of disciplinary rigour to ensure a high quality result."

"It can only enhance creativity. However it is in the design and commercial sector. We need the element of personal research and exploration not always guided by outcomes but value the journey and process."

"Don't much about this!"

"Yes and no - STEAM is a great initiative but I worry that some institutions will use art and design as hand maidens for STEM - with STEM as the main focus, and the art/design element as a secondary concern. Students need to be able to explore and develop visual art know-how as a focus as well, and in ways that are not always driven by vocation."

YES

"Truly innovative learning requires fluidity to learning. The arts enrich and inform STEM in ways that it cannot do so on its own and in return STEM offers new ways of exploring an expressing creative thoughts. Our disciplinary/domain way of thinking will hold back our educational systems it would be better to teach skills more fluidly."

"All the discussions in our school (Education Authority) are around STEM - no mention of STEAM"

"Sure, but don't get prescriptive, as usually these things have to be then rolled back years later as they become too constrictive."

"In my role as a museum educator, I design and develop visual art learning programs rich with links to the Australian Curriculum. I have surveyed and worked alongside primary teachers and teachers of secondary visual art. The feedback is from teachers is overwhelmingly in favour of an integrated inquiry approach to learning across subject areas. Cross disciplinary projects foster curiosity and creativity in children."

"STEM without the 'A' demonstrates the importance of the Arts in the 21st Century."

"I do not yet work in a STEAM system, but I am around the discussions. I would like to see the value of art to be recognised in this way. So much of what we do in visual art is about critical problem solving, I would love to see it fully integrated into deep learning experiences. I also think it's essential that art keeps its autonomy and that it doesn't get swallowed up by other subjects. Art for art's sake is still incredibely important."

"Because STEM subjects largely rely on discovering one answer or solution to a problem, expansive or divergent thinking is not encouraged, taught or by default valued. Artists traditionally follow their own creative inquiry which can go in all directions simultaneously and are therefore non linear."

"I think it will improve the amount of time dedicated to visual arts, as long as it is implemented in a meaningful way and not with the arts as a handmaiden to the STEM subjects."

"A STEAM approach will embed arts education in the curriculum, as it should be."

"Yes- added with design technologies to look at the ways arts curriculum give students a place to solve problems, try solutions and think outside the square."

"This is an approach that this University is following and promoting – and researching."

"art and design learning simply provides individuals with the tools for better futures, for themselves and employers. its a no brainer....and I think already well proven to be vital."

"Sounds interesting. Art is not still. It involves society and students need to be in close contact with the real artists, rather than look at pictures on a white board."

"our school does not recognise the Art component, if it did we may be able to find a time allocation to incorporate the collaborative and crucial aspects of this objective."

"There is no acknowledgement of STEAM by DET in Victoria. DET is working on policy development based on STEM with the understanding that design is embedded into the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. However, there is a strong movement in the Visual Arts community and Visual Communication Design that practices used in these disciplines do encourage Art and Design thinking and innovation. This appears to be only acknowledged by these disciplines."

"It is great to adopt inspiring ideas from another country but Australia is unique and our ideas matter too, so I am all for it as long as Australian ideas are intermingled."

"I feel there is great opportunities, but we need to refocus where the visual arts fits in. I want us to be part of technology along side the hands on subjects - metals, woodwork, ICT, textiles, cooking, media, gaming,programming . Presently in the now environment we don't fit with performing art/drama at the state school level. There is more opportunities to develop cross curriculum opportunities and work networks"

"I don't know enough about it but if it provides expertise and inspiration it should be great. However, too often I have seen art activities plonked down for students to explore but they have no idea how the materials can be used and opportunities are lost"

"Like it. Want more cultral'airtime' eg evening news for arts and culture like the dway dictated spot at the end of the every news bulletin devoted to sport. Affirm e arts culture and it will become mainstream ( like sport is ) instead of fringe."

"I am an artist who works as an artist in residence in the education department. I feel that art teachers lack the technical experience to teach students technical skills for areas of pottery, mosaics sculpture. The teachers lack of skills is reflected in the poor workmanship of the students final results. I have seen work explode, incorrect clay used for the particular project, and generally a lack of technical skill overall. I have many art teacher come into my studio for classes after hours to learn skills in clay and sculpture. In doing this I have seen the quality of work in the students increase and also the creativity of the class become more inspiring for the students as the teachers become confident in the materials they are using."

"This approach can be quality if done appropriately however there should also be visual art education in their own right!"

"This is something I'm very aware of and I promote the Art program as encouraging innovation and creative thinking."

"I think that putting them together and integrating them will increase the depth to how we present the visutal arts in an education sense, but we need to be careful and aware of the over commericalisation of the arts which wil prevent real experimentation"

"I am highly supportive of this initiative"