Benefits of Arts Education 4: STEAM

STEM--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math--has been a framework for core curriculum in United States public schools since about 2001.  The Arts were added to this cluster of disciplines in about November of 2015, making the acronym STEAM. 

While STEM skills remain important in the US, the "soft skills" such as teamwork, cooperation, creativity, collaboration, and adaptation to change addressed by the arts are becoming increasingly essential in the American workplace.  These skills simply cannot be taught by a computer in a strictly STEM-oriented environment.  The Arts, however, excel in treating them. 

In addition to the brain development fostered, soft skills engendered by arts education have direct application to the American workplace.  Schools are wise to keep the arts near the center of their core curricula.