STEM pedagogies: provoking ideas through an investigation of the Technologies Australian Curriculum

Current education policy places a strong emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as drivers of innovation and enterprise emphasising its importance for global and economic prosperity. Policy documents in Australia continue to shift in an effort to respond to such global trends with some arguing that this shift has contributed to less students pursuing science and engineering education pathways. Design as an overarching pedagogical strategy has been regarded as the avenue to develop these 21st century capabilities of innovation and enterprise, especially in collaboration with art, science and technology (Howard, 2008). How do current STEM pedagogies address the development of creative, innovative and entrepreneurial skills? This paper deconstructs two pedagogical approaches implied in the Australian Curriculum and suggests that interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches may serve STEM education better.