Student diaries – Author: Sandra Tasić

Author: Sandra Tasić

PhD student at the Faculty of Education in Jagodina and participant in the Let’s STREAM project

Once students engage in challenging activities, they will yearn for more knowledge, greater participation, deeper engagement, a broader understanding of the world, and opportunities to contribute meaningfully.

The interactive online STREAM course has taught me how to promote 21st-century skills in the EFL classroom and, more importantly, to observe the world through the lenses of this interdisciplinary approach. STEM-STEAM-STREAM concepts bring us back to wonder and observation, fostering the incorporation of higher-order thinking skills. These, in turn, lead to a deeper understanding of problem-solving situations that we pose to both our students and ourselves. The STREAM educational approach brings life into the classroom, making it vivid, captivating, and thought-provoking.

STREAM projects and their interdisciplinary nature serve all teachers, especially those in lower primary grades and kindergartens. I find it essential to start early and cultivate creative and critical thinking skills in very young children. Once they engage in challenging activities, they will yearn for more knowledge, greater participation, deeper engagement, a broader understanding of the world, and opportunities to contribute meaningfully.

I have grown throughout the course and its modules alongside my colleagues. Inspiring tasks enabled us to express creativity and broaden perspectives on different topics in STREAM disciplines in seemingly effortless engagements. Inspiring assignments required participants to research and reflect on their views, practices, and understanding of the world, which made the overall course experience personally and professionally enriching.

We, as educators, should create a suitable and fertile ground for our students to thrive. STREAM teaches us that it is vital to practice our knowledge, share it, and apply it comprehensively. Professional development sets an example of the importance of lifelong learning, growing, and, ultimately, changing for the better in every sense.