Tim Mikulski

Dr. Jim Taylor, a psychologist who specializes in the areas of “business, sport, and parenting” and has also worked with a number of performing arts groups and individual artists over the years, recently published a blog post that takes a different approach to the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) movement in American education. Instead of turning STEM to STEAM to include the arts, Dr. Taylor makes a modification to the lovable acronym, changing it to STAMPER (science, technology, arts, math, physical, emotions, and reason).

How’s that for covering all of your bases?

In the post, Taylor says that he took engineering out of the equation, so to speak, because it is an “offspring of science, technology, and math” and he thinks the subject should remain in college and graduate programs, not in K-12 education.

As for the addition of the arts, he calls that a “no brainer” because “new ideas and innovations, though sowed in the firmament of hard knowledge, blossom from the more ethereal creative flights of fancy that the arts encourage.”

I think we can all agree on that, but since we haven’t even injected our “A” into STEM as of yet, should we abandon STEAM altogether and truly advocate for well-rounded adults that are not only smart in core subject areas, but also healthy both physically and emotionally through STAMPER?

I’m not quite sold yet, but I feel like I could be if given enough time and evidence.

Read Dr. Taylor’s full blog post here, and be sure to come back and post your thoughts. I’m sure we can start quite a dialogue.

Arts Watch is a weekly cultural policy publication of Americans for the Arts that covers news in a variety of categories related to cultural policy including Culture and Communities, Arts Education and the Creative Workforce, Public Investment in Culture and Creativity, and Philanthropy and the Private Sector. The newsletter also features an Arts Watch Spotlight item and Arts Canvas – News from the Field, a short piece written by a different Americans for the Arts staffer each week.

Subscribe to Arts Watch.