Term 3 Week 8: STEM/Humanities debate (Part One)

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This information is gleaned from various sources that support the move towards a STEM focussed learning environment with an interesting website listed in the end. Where do you stand? Engage in the discussion.

STEM Education


The changing world economic conditions have placed pressure on all economies to re-examine their commitment to public science investment. The emphasis on supporting business expenditure on R&D has grown and there is increasing expectation that science will support economic recovery through addressing immediate industry and firm needs. A quality science education will be an absolutely critical part of this equation.

What's at Stake?


New Zealand will succeed in the global marketplace by doing what we do best, which is harnessing the talents and ingenuity of our people. This kind of innovation however isn't born in the boardroom or on the factory floor. It doesn’t begin in a basement workshop or a research laboratory. That’s where the payoff happens. It starts long before. It starts in a classroom.

New Zealand's future hinges on our ability to prepare our next generation, to harness their creativity, dynamism and insight. The cost of inaction is immeasurable — the inventions that are never built, the businesses never started, the cures never discovered, the sparks of imagination never lit — the brimming potential squandered because we failed to come together for the sake of not just our children, but for the sake of our future.

A Platform for Collective Innovation


This forum aims to unite the best minds and innovators from government, education institutions, CRIs, industry bodies and businesses from across key sectors.

A focus on developing ideas and solutions around 3 key overarching questions

  • What is the role of STEM education in the innovation system?

  • What do businesses actually require from the future workforce and what is motivating this?

  • How do we optimise the education system across the sectors to support the advancement of a science-based economy?


We urgently need to better develop the skills base and the innovation drivers that will grow and strengthen a 21st century knowledge-based economy, while advancing our society and sustaining our environment.

See: STEMming the tide: The need to improve science education, not abandon it, October 4, 2013

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