Written by Sheilas Gehrmann 

Pre-service teacher studying a Graduate Diploma in Education from the Queensland University of Technology majoring in Maths and English

Before registration, keen delegates wandered through the whale gallery enjoying the excellent Great Barrier Reef photographic display. These were to provide later stimulus for some of our creations, though we didn’t know it at the time!

The official introduction included a mesmerising dance and music combination by final year QACI students, as well as an intriguing presentation by Artist, Anita Milroy who showed her art/science work of fossilised plants imaged on the Australian Synchrotron. This opened our eyes to the possibilities of cross-pollinating across the STEAM disciplines, and the exponential benefits attained when thinking and learning collaboratively. Questioners teased out the process Anita had engaged in to achieve her work. This demonstrated the real essence of the Queensland Museum’s Creative Lab, which is to integrate creative thinking from a broad background of disciplines, and encourage great teaching and engaged learning in STEAM.

Delegates were then immersed in a variety of workshops, which had us front and centre as collaborative problem-solvers. Again, the Queensland Museum spaces provided stimulus for our creative juices! One of the personal highlights of this approach, was to experience empathy for my students when I challenge them to be problem-solvers! There is the initial feeling of being way outside our comfort zone, then the sense that you are part of a team – each having unique expertise to contribute to the task at hand. There was a terrific buzz generated in working and mastering our problem-solving in this collaborative way.

I wonder, in the terminology of Csikszentmihalyi, had we arrived at ‘FLOW’ – that highly-prized goal of learning!?

The day ended with bush tucker and plant weaving. This very chilled, immersion experience reminded us that some of the best ‘STEAM’ practices belong to our indigenous people, and have been around for a long time.

Step Up‘s involvement in the Queensland Museum’s Creative Lab program has enabled Sheilas Gehrmann and other pre-service teachers to participate in these workshops.