Conceptions of STEM and STEAM Education in the Zimbabwean Schools Curriculum: A Review of the Portrayals, Affordances and Constraints

Abstract

There has been a growing advocacy for shifting from STEM to STEAM education globally based on the need for integrating artistic competencies such as creativity and critical thinking into science teaching and learning. Different countries have made efforts to mainstream either STEM or STEAM education in their education curricula. However, there is a deficit in knowledge on how STEM or STEAM education is portrayed in national curriculum documents which teachers use to guide the teaching and learning of science. This study analysed how both STEM and STEAM are portrayed in the Zimbabwean schools’ curriculum documents. Two successive national curriculum frameworks and the syllabi for science subjects were analysed thematically by first identifying statements in which STEM or STEAM were mentioned and determining the meaning in which either was used. Five thematic meanings of either STEM or STEAM were identified. The themes showed limited conceptual clarity on the meanings of either STEM or STEAM and how they are different. Both were conceptualised as the teaching of the different science subjects. STEM and STEAM were often conflated as being synonymous, which constrains meaningful integration of the arts into the sciences. Analysis of the syllabi for the STEM subjects revealed some affordances which included clear articulation of scientific competencies and pedagogical practices that are consistent with global perspectives on STEM or STEAM education. The study recommends conceptual clarity of these two terms in curriculum documents if teachers are to make meaningful and correct interpretations in implementation of either term in their practices.