Communities (COVID-19)
STEMpathy in Schools: A Conversation with mindSpark Learning
11/17/2020
At Samsung, we have always had a pioneering spirit, a drive to push the boundaries of technology, and a steadfast mission to create meaningful innovation. We acknowledge the integral role that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) plays in our daily lives and, as a corporate citizen, we are working to bridge STEM education gaps by readying a workforce through initiatives like Samsung Solve for Tomorrow (SFT). Entering its eleventh year, the national K-12 public school program is inspiring young minds to become seeds of change in their local communities and is effectively creating a viable talent pipeline to fill the growing STEM workforce needs.
As Solve for Tomorrow embarks upon a new decade, equity and empathy are top-of-mind. This has sparked a heightened focus on “STEMpathy” – embedding human compassion and empathy into STEM education to further evolve both emotional intelligence and cognitive development. Empathetic understanding leads to human-centered ways of solving problems and that conscious view also frames critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, decision making, leadership, entrepreneurship, and more.
Samsung has always been fundamentally human-centric, designing leading edge innovations to contribute to a better global society. So, we believe the intentionality behind STEMpathy to create social and economic value is a vital concept – and one that should become the centerpiece of a bold, new STEM education model. Samsung Electronics America Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship Ann Woo recently connected with mindSpark Learning CEO & President Kellie Lauth for an inspiring conversation on how they are supporting teachers’ STEMpathy development.
AW: mindSpark Learning launched in 2007. What inspired you to create a brand that is such an empowering force for educators?
KL: Our inspiration comes from the experience and belief that education is the answer to many of the world’s greatest problems. It is truly a human-centric endeavor to teach and learn. We know that an investment in educators is an investment in students and in the future. An educator’s influence and reach is exponential. If we want to transform education, we must empower our educators first.
AW: What has been the most gratifying part of creating professional learning experiences to elevate and upskill educators across the country?
KL: The most gratifying part is seeing how our work truly impacts educators and their students. mindSpark Learning does professional development very differently than others. We’re not only contributing to the recruitment and retention of quality educators, which is vital, we’re also forging new pathways to disrupt the current education landscape with our partners. This ensures educators have a seat at the table and are sought out for their expertise and experience.
We’ve seen the possibilities when education is not only the responsibility of communities, but imperative to a new paradigm of a human revolution in which we leverage emotional intelligence, conscious leadership, and an entrepreneurial foundation to change the conversation. It benefits all of us to elevate the teaching profession and to see an educator unleashed to design thoughtful, forward-facing, relevant experiences for their students is bar none.