Building a Future for STEAM in Belize
The Itz’at STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Academy is an initiative of the Belizean Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology (MoEST) to provide a new, transformative secondary school education for students in Belize. Developed in partnership with MIT (led by Dr. Claudia Urrea, Senior Associate Director of pK-12 at Open Learning) and the Inter-American Development Bank, the Itz’at STEAM Academy aims to prepare students for careers and further study in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
Central to our work on this project is the inclusion of advanced technologies that will allow Belizean students to push the boundaries of their own learning through a rigorous, project-based curriculum. The school will include a makerspace with analog and digital fabrication tools, a media lab with video and audio equipment and comprehensive editing software, and a science lab that can be used for projects ranging from robotics to chemistry to synthetic biology. Students will complement their learning at school with internships and experiences that happen outside the classroom. Itz’at intends to be deeply embedded in the community, actively contributing to ongoing work in local organizations and co-creating projects that will benefit Belize City and the wider country.
Itz’at STEAM Academy will open its doors to a cohort of 60 first form students in September 2023. That number will grow over time to a total capacity of 300 students by 2026. The new high school will create a training ground for teachers and model individualized student-centered instruction.
Hands-On Learning for a Brand New STEAM Lab School
As a lab school, the Itz’at Steam Academy is committed to cultivating and sharing innovative pedagogies and constantly exploring best practices in an experimental, iterative, and reflective manner. STEAM—an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics—is a set of subjects whose combination extends beyond the sum of its parts. STEAM embodies processes, approaches, and attitudes that focus on both interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to learning. It implies that digital technologies are an important part of the educational experience as powerful tools that enable discovery, creativity, and new connections within the curriculum. STEAM education also nurtures future-oriented, creative, collaborative and ethical problem solvers through practical, project-based activities that promote design and critical thinking.
As part of this three-year project, the Jameel World Education Lab is also helping implement a professional development program for 100 teachers across the country to facilitate systemic educational changes from within. The team working towards the opening of the new school has been deeply invested in learning about and testing out approaches to learning, discovery, creation, and research that will work with children from across Belize. Curriculum design and evidence-based principles lie at the core of the Lab’s collaboration with the school and the government of Belize.
