Dr Laura Colucci-Gray

Dr Laura Colucci-Gray

Keynote Abstract:

STEAM on the rise: troubling knowledge and laying paths for sustainable futures

In this presentation, I will bring together current debates in the field of STEAM education, starting from its early inception as STEM + Art to the variety of contemporary adaptations of interdisciplinary practices across different communities internationally. I will argue for the potential of STEAM education to trouble traditional conceptions of curriculum as a body of knowledge and to move away from intellectualist positions on education as learning, in order to explore knowing as being, emerging as contextualised practices of story-telling in transdisciplinary settings. I will then offer some illustrative examples of current and future directions in STEAM education by drawing on experiences in music and science education both in teacher education and in schools. In this talk, I will provide some insights into methodological principles inviting the audience to tell new stories about education and open up new paths for collective futures.

Short CV of the Speaker:

Laura Colucci-Gray is Head of Institute and Associate Professor in Science and Sustainability Education at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. Laura leads the STEAM and Sustainability strategy across Initial Teacher Education and she is co-lead of the Teacher Education, Curriculum and Pedagogy Research hub. Laura led the prestigious BERA Research Commission on STEAM and her recent publications have focussed on the philosophical and curricular foundations of STEAM curricula, with a particular focus on Sustainability and Futures education. She is a visiting Professor in the Department of Systems Biology at the University of Turin (Italy) and is a member of the voluntary organisation One Seed Forward which both informs and supports her practice in transdisciplinary education in community settings.