Is MSJ Right to Include The Arts in the Focus on STEM Subjects? CLAUDIA

IS MSJ RIGHT TO INCLUDE THE ARTS IN THE FOCUS ON STEM SUBJECTS?

By Claudia

As a school we are strong in the STEM subjects and over 50% of Year 13 leavers go on to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics related degree courses at top universities, including Oxbridge, Imperial, Warwick, Bristol and University College London. Statistics also show that students attending an all-girls school are 75% more likely to take Maths A-level, 70% more likely to take Chemistry and 2 ½ times as likely to take Physics. MSJ is also very strong in the Arts areas; we have very talented pupils in a variety of years and alumnae pursuing jobs within the Arts. We as a school are very focused on Arts subjects, with scholarships being offered in Drama, Music and Art. We are just as strong in the Arts as we are in more academic subjects like Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. So, surely it would make sense for us to adopt the new STEAM label.

WHAT CAN THE ARTS AND DRAMA SPECIFICALLY TEACH YOU IN LIFE, ARE THEY USEFUL?

Drama can help and teach you many things from a young age such as confidence and public speaking skills, which in adult life people value as they provide a very useful and valued skill set. Jobs like politicians and educators use public speaking skills all of the time. Drama is a great creativity outlet, form of self-expression, educates on body language, can help you socially and how to react to certain things, something a lot of people (particularly young children) struggle with. It can also help you view things from others perspectives by learning how different characters react and respond to different occasions. Drama is also a way of anxiety relief, as well as communities and friendships being built through Drama as devising a piece together is a great way of getting to know new people. It is a form of entertainment, and conveys important messages, for example, a pantomimes is not only funny but teaches young people important morals. ‘School in general is so stressful, drama is the only lesson I look forward to every week because I know it’s not going to majorly stress me out’ says a student from Three Rivers Academy in Surrey.

HOW CAN DRAMA AND THE ARTS HELP PEOPLE THAT GO INTO PROFESSIONS WITHIN SCIENCES, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS?

Drama can help in many ways previously explained, but it is not just these, as I have yet to mention one of the most important links between Drama/the Arts and STEM subjects. The most important link between the vastly contradicting Drama and STEM, is the creativity that Drama brings. It provides creativity that is a fundamental, vital, and integral part of day-to-day thinking and life. Creativity is the basis of every new creation, invention, and medication. Without ‘out of the box’ thinker’s, fresh scientific theories, inventions in Engineering, puzzling problems in Maths and experiments in Technology would not be curated. Creativity from Drama is used when scientists in the medical field need to come up with a new type of drug to help treat life altering medical conditions. For example, the condition MS (short for Multiple Sclerosis) is a condition which affects the brain and nerves. It is caused when a hole occurs within a tube in your brain resulting in the immune system attacking the lining of the tubing and/or the nerves. It is a lifelong condition, with no permanent cures, only treatments. One of these treatments is called ‘Tysabri’, which consists of going to the hospital once every four weeks, in which a drip is used to infuse a drug into the body. The Tysabri travels to the brain and sticks to the cells in the immune system, so the cells are too big to fit through the hole in the brain tube.

The famous scientist and leading creator of the AstraZeneca vaccine Sarah Gilbert said herself that without Drama she would not have had the ability to verbalise and explain the vaccine in an accessible way in her book ‘Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus’. So, Drama really is the glue that sticks all the subjects together.