International School Nord Anglia Collaborates with MIT to Produce STEAM Curricula

• By Richard Chang
• 11/04/16

Nord Anglia, a network of 43 international K–12 schools, is collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) curricula.

The curricula, already underway this fall, guides students toward adopting multidisciplinary approaches to learning and problem solving with real-world applications, according to a news release.

For instance, this autumn children in 13 schools are being challenged in three phases to solve a real problem in their local communities:

• They must identify and describe an environmental problem in their city and the impact on the overall health of the city, including air, food, water, energy, transportation and waste;
• They will then use the skills they learned through the guidance of MIT experts and STEAM teachers to question and delve deeper through research, analysis and the collection of data;
• The final stage will focus on addressing the problem and creating a solution, which the students will present at MIT.

Each Nord Anglia school offering the new STEAM curricula will have a state-of-the-art maker space in which students can develop practical solutions to the challenges identified.

The curricula will eventually be introduced to more than 35,000 students in Nord Anglia’s 43 schools around the world. Nord Anglia Education has campuses in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and nine in North America, including schools in Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York and Washington, D.C.

The collaboration also entails professional development at MIT for STEAM discipline teachers at Nord Anglia schools. Teachers will have an opportunity to attend annual workshops at MIT, which will expose them to the latest thinking, research and tools in STEAM. Nord Anglia teachers will also learn new ways to support student creativity, invention, reflection, risk taking and perseverance through STEAM-related challenges.

Finally, the collaboration between Nord Anglia and MIT will provide teachers and students with an annual opportunity to visit MIT and participate in a range of STEAM-related activities, including robotics, coding and bioengineering.

“As educators, we have an enormous responsibility to ensure that today’s students are well prepared for tomorrow’s workplace,” said Andrew Fitzmaurice, CEO of Nord Anglia Education, in a statement. “Traditional schooling teaches subjects individually, and fails to encourage students to tackle challenges in a holistic way. Nord Anglia enhanced STEAM curriculum will encourage students to think across subjects, collaborating and honing their creativity to help tackle real-world challenges.”

This new venture comes one year after Nord Anglia launched a performing arts collaboration with the Julliard School.

Nord Anglia Education is headquartered in Hong Kong. For more information, visit the organization’s website.