ECT Brownbag: Naomi Thompson

Weaving Together STEAM and the Spaces that Surround It

Thursday,April 1, 10:00 – 11:00am EST

https://nyu.zoom.us/j/99255682170

The transdisciplinary space of STEAM has potential to break down disciplinary boundaries to create room for underserved learners to participate in new ways of learning and knowing. In this talk, I will think across two research projects to draw connections between designing equitable STEAM learning experiences as well as the environments and communities surrounding those experiences. In one project, I argue that there is unique promise in the craft of weaving for supporting broader ways to engage in mathematics. I conducted semi-structured interviews with adult weavers and an intervention designed to expose middle-school youth to the mathematical practices inherent in weaving.

I found that understanding math engagement in broader ways makes it possible to better recognize and value youths’ intellectual work. These findings raise additional questions about how educators can design communities around STEAM environments to better support and uplift learners who are traditionally oppressed in these spaces. As part of a large, cross-institutional project, the second study examines an out-of-school STEAM program designed to support STEAM participation and identity in 4th-8th grade girls of color. We argue that designing counterspaces for Black and Latina girls in STEAM lays groundwork for supportive community where learning and engagement can persist, even through a global crisis. Together, these lines of work suggest that STEAM learning and the spaces that surround it can create opportunities for imagining new pathways and thriving in learning environments.