Beyond STEM

I am no teacher, and my hat goes off to those who have the patience to mold the minds of the next generation for so little money. However, as a student and an observer of humanity, I have noticed that our—meaning the United States’—education system is lacking severely in several key areas. There are three main areas, however, that I feel that the United States as a country needs to focus on more in order to make our country function better—and, believe it or not, not a single one of them is a STEM class.

Now, I’m not saying that these areas that I’m going to discuss are more important than STEM classes. Rather, I feel that they have fallen to the wayside over the past several years and need more attention than they have been given lately. STEM has been given plenty of attention, as we can see by the boom in technological advancements and jobs in these areas. However, the following categories will help our country in ways that STEM cannot or will supplement what STEM provides the building blocks for: public speaking/debate, art/music, and literary criticism and theory.

1.      Public Speaking/Debate

Public speaking is an area that I absolutely loathe. When I was in middle school, in fact, I could not stop shaking every time that I had to get up and speak in front of people. However, in high school, I had to do a presentation practically every week because the school was a project-based learning environment. This helped me to deal with my fear of public speaking. In turn, it helped me to deal with—not completely overcome, but deal with—similar fears such as speaking to strangers and speaking on the telephone. Teaching public speaking in schools is a necessity to helping students grow as people, not just in learning to talk in front of crowds but in learning to talk one-on-one with their peers. It will help them in the long run with interviews, projects at work, and even social interactions.

On the flip side, debate was not taught on any level at any of my schools. I think that was to the detriment of not only my fellow students and myself, but the country overall. People do not know how to discuss dissenting points of view, especially if they’re in a group in which they’re in the minority but feel strongly about their perspective. It turns into an all-out screaming match instead of a meeting of the minds. I’ve seen people just repeat their opinions over and over (I’ve even been guilty of this when I’ve been flustered) or shout down the other person (something I’ve been the victim of). If debate were taught more in school, people would be able to express their opinions more eloquently, learn to research their opinions before spewing them, and become better speakers overall. We might not reach a consensus, but we might not be afraid to speak our minds quite as much, either.

2.      Art/Music

It’s no secret that whenever STEM needs more funding, art and music get cut. It’s such a fact that they portray it in sitcoms and children’s shows. But is it justified? There have been tons of studies over the years showing that art and music are just as beneficial to students as STEM courses. The Wallace Foundation, for example, lists that students “build empathy, forge social bonds, and improve behavior and cognition” through art and music classes and after-school programs (What Do I Need to Know About Arts Education? | Wallace Foundation). It’s a way for students who do not normally have an outlet to express themselves, which helps them to focus in other classes and become better people all around.

Now, I’m no artist or musician, but I did benefit from art and music in my schools growing up. I played flute and a little bit of the drum in band in middle school and was in choir. I was not very good, mind you, but it was very beneficial for me to have these creative outlets. I had a lot of fun, which, as a straight-A (except for PE) perfectionist student, I really needed. It also helped me to strengthen my bonds with my friends who were also in band and choir. When I reached high school, we did not have any music programs and I did not take any art classes, but I did take yearbook, which was a part of the art program. It was a unique creative outlet because I got to learn InDesign/graphic design and photography, and I was surrounded by creative people and the art that was created by the students in the art classes, which was just good for my soul. (I even convinced the art teacher to let me take home a copy of one of the graphic students’ designs as a present for my dad because it was all about rock bands that he happened to like.) Sure, it ended up getting a little stressful as the teacher started to depend on me too much, but in the end, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

3.      Literary Criticism and Theory

OK, as an English major, I might be a bit biased on this one. I love reading, and I love analyzing what I’ve read. However, I still think that there is a good reason for schools to focus more on this category than they have already. As we have seen in our world—or, at least, the United States—people are losing their ability to critically think. They take everything that they read at face value. This is especially true when it comes to the news and anything that they get from AI. Literary criticism and theory, though, is all about critical thinking. You have to take apart every line, every word, to find what you think is the true meaning behind what is being said—whether it is truly the meaning or not—and support that meaning with analysis and, often, secondary documents. You have to argue what you believe, not just say that you believe it because you believe it. If students were taught more thoroughly to make these kinds of arguments from an earlier age, then we would have a world of people who questioned everything—and what a world that would be!

Now, I know that’s easier said than done. I loved getting essays on books because I loved books. I loved dissecting them and trying to figure out what they meant. That’s just my nature. I know that schools now are cutting back on that and focusing more on STEM because they do not see the value in it and, frankly, see that students do not like to do it. Perhaps, though, that could change if they changed the books that they started their students on. It might seem like it’s dumbing down America, but if you start students on writing these essays and dissecting books that they’re truly interested in—Harry Potter, Twilight—then maybe, just maybe, they won’t mind the harder stuff—1984, Catcher in the Rye—later on.

I know that it’s a lot for me to ask schools to shift away from their STEM-centric view right now. Obviously, STEM is key to our future because technology is such a huge part of where we are going. Nevertheless, that does not mean that we should neglect other areas of our students’ education. No, we should provide a balanced approach that will make them more well-rounded people. That is the best way to keep our country moving forward.