Steam Education for School Teachers in Nepal

EasyChair Preprint 7475

Abstract

Since the integrated curricula were implemented in grades 1-3 in Nepali schools two years back, there is still a chaotic situation among school stakeholders (headteachers, teachers, students, and parents). Being graduated with discipline-based education and teaching a particular subject for years, teachers are still not able to grasp integrated teaching and learning. In this context, we felt that we as responsible citizens decided to promote STEAM education throughout the nation so that maximum schoolteachers, especially in remote areas, would be empowered. After recapitulating and reconceptualizing our learning and experiences, we encountered a common issue of teaching and learning having been raised by teachers and students for a long time - Can we teach and learn all subjects, especially science and mathematics, using the arts-based pedagogy – storytelling, poetry, singing, and dancing? Subscribing to this pertinent issue, we conducted STEAM workshops for school teachers across the nation in Nepal. Using collaborative autoethnography as a research methodology, we analyzed and interpreted that STEAM education approaches engage teachers and students in creative teaching-learning activities. Further, arts-based pedagogy is an empowering pedagogy for teaching and learning all subjects in an integrated way. More specifically, arts-based pedagogy helps both teachers and students in self-motivation, creativity, imagination, and critical thinking.

Keyphrases: Arts-based pedagogy, STEAM education, collaborative autoethnography, integrated curriculum

@booklet{EasyChair:7475,
  author    = {Indra Mani Shrestha and Bal Chandra Luitel and Binod Parsad Pant and Niroj Dahal and Netra Kumar Manadhar},
  title     = {Steam Education for School Teachers in Nepal},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 7475},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2022}}