Together with a long-time collaborator on education, Prof. Dr. Kristina Reiss, (former dean of the TUM School of Education and former the director of the PISA program, Germany) Siemens Stiftung introduces the STEMplus approach that connects classroom learning with future competencies. The holistic approach fosters communication, collaboration, creative, and critical thinking along with intercultural understanding. It is oriented toward problems that do not necessarily have disciplinary limits and opens creative ways to solve them by focusing on a common initiative to do so. The potential benefits for society are given utmost attention as students not only learn in real-life contexts but also develop hands-on solutions to address these challenges. For teachers, this means implementing problem-based lessons that facilitate explorative learning among students.

Dr. Reiss explains: “Continuous disruptions in technological, social, and environmental milieu have challenged established classroom learning practices. Students entering primary school today will find themselves in the future in jobs that do not exist now. With STEMplus, our vision is to ignite students’ creative minds, encouraging them to experiment, investigate, collaborate, and create solutions as a part of curricula.”

Having directed the PISA tests in Germany for many years, Dr. Reiss calls for the introduction of this learning approach early on. “We need to rethink traditional educational approaches and see it more as a social responsibility, not limited to childhood but as a life-long learning journey. Therefore, it is vital that STEMplus is introduced at the most impressionable age of a child to nurture crucial cognitive, critical, and language skills to build a solid foundation for the future,” Dr. Reiss adds.