Torch - Spring 2014

Havergal College

Breaking Down the Silos

By Lois Rowe, Vice Principal

“The future is a trap.” This provocative phrase launched a lively discussion at a recent meeting of the school’s administrative board (Ad Board), which includes all administrative functions (Academics, Admission, Advancement & Community Relations, Facilities, Finance & Operations and the Institute). The Ad Board meets biweekly to move ahead strategic and operational objectives. In this particular discussion, the group was wrestling with topics and issues that require longer-term planning. What became clear was that the education that will prepare Havergal students for the future is the very education that is valued today;

STEAM for an even stronger experience. STEM or STEAM marks the beginning of what needs to happen in education. Harvey White, founder and former President of Qualcomm, says both the STEM and STEAM concepts are really “placeholders” for something else that needs to be done in K to 12 education and at universities: the elimination of the silos and a renewed focus on interdisciplinary learning. Havergal’s long-standing commitment to a strong liberal arts curriculum has proven to be a solid foundation for this next step in curriculum development and delivery. In many ways, STEAM is the modern iteration of a liberal arts approach to learning.

one that provides students with an authentic experience exploring and addressing challenges facing our world. In his book, Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21 st Century , Howard Gardner, developmental psychologist and Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, defines intelligence as: (1) the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture; (2) a set of skills that make it possible for a person to solve problems in life; and (3) the potential for finding or creating solutions to problems

The relationship between STEAM fields is not difficult to comprehend and few would not see the benefit of blending concepts and skills in a “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” approach. Why then does higher education continue to teach in disciplined silos? Studying in a focused way within one discipline is also to be valued, not for the traditional way of learning facts and figures but rather as a distinctive way of thinking about the world. Howard Gardner in his book Five Minds for the Future identifies a disciplined mind as one of five characteristic minds

that involve gathering new knowledge. This definition builds upon his concept of “multiple intelligence,” which captured critical attention over 30 years ago and broadened our understanding of intelligence beyond psychometric measures of cognitive function. Gardner’s concepts challenge schools to find ways to reconstruct teaching and learning by breaking down the silos that compartmentalize learning into discipline-related fields and to seek structures and opportunities to connect disciplines through dynamic, problem-solving approaches. Thus, students will learn in ways that bring real-world problems and issues into the realm of the classroom and experience the transference of skills and modes of thinking from one discipline to another. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is an approach currently utilized in the Junior School that is engaging for the students and transformative for the faculty. The learning taking place is rich and relevant. The connection to art and design often results in the addition of an “A” to broaden the acronym to

all students should develop. He argues that, during high school, all students should be introduced to and master the ways of thinking in science, mathematics, history and at least one art form. These main disciplines are gateways to other sciences, the social sciences and other forms of art. Without acquiring these thinking patterns, students will be completely dependent on others to formulate views about the world. These forms of thinking will serve students well no matter what profession they eventually choose to enter. Knowledge of facts is a useful ornament but fundamentally a different undertaking than thinking in a discipline. Rather than setting up a false dichotomy—STEAM versus a traditional approach—a school is wise to find the value in developing strong disciplined minds and providing as many opportunities as possible to break down the silos in order to prepare students for future opportunities now.

Table of Contents | Spring 2014 The Torch 13