A Historical Analysis of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) Education Initiatives and Policies in Balochistan

Abstract

The teaching or learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) has grown in popularity and been advocated internationally as an integrated subject that encourages creativity, problem solving, technological literacy, a scientific mindset, team work and innovation. But STEAM education was not a momentous or singular process in Balochistan; it did not materialize as a provincial policy at one time. Instead, it has been built over time and come from previous reforms in science and mathematics education, curriculum development, TVE, information and communication technology (ICT), teacher professional development, assessment, federally-funded STEM programs and more recently, explicit STEAM programming. This study aims at studying the history and development of STEAM education programs and policies in Balochistan. The qualitative historical content-analysis design was used to analyze provincial education sector plans, education statistics, curriculum and assessment documents, legislative and institutional records, federal STEM and STEAM program documents, implementation reports, and scholarly literature. It brings into focus 5 general phases over the course of the evolution of STEAM related education in the province: pre-STEAM, policy consolidation post devolution of education, learning driven phase, digital readiness, explicitly named STEM programming by the Pakistan Science Foundation and finally the shift toward STEAM as a result of federal initiatives focusing on interdisciplinary learning, creativity, girls inclusion in learning and school based programming. The results indicate significant policy change, as well as differences in the extent of provincial planning and federally-initiated programming, limited technological infrastructure, a lack of specialized teachers, uneven geographical access, weak integration of the arts, and little evidence of the integration of the arts at the system level. The study highlights that in Balochistan, the status of individual subjects related to STEAM has shifted to an interdisciplinary approach but the shift to the interdisciplinary model is incomplete. To help the transition from individual initiatives towards sustainable system-wide implementation, a province owned STEAM approach and an equity-scaled approach is recommended.