Gordon Greenidge launches STEAM week

The Gordon Greenidge Primary School has launched its inaugural STEAM Week, drawing high praise for the landmark initiative in line with efforts to modernise Barbados’ education system.

In praising the initiative at the school’s official opening ceremony, Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman described the week-long programme as emblematic of the wider transformation taking place within the education sector.

“This is really an exciting time in education, and STEAM has to come to life in a major way,” he said. “I see this morning as a pivotal moment in the context of the school and wider Barbados.”

The STEAM programme, which focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM), has been in existence for more than five years and the minister made clear that its pioneering spirit was consistent with his ministry’s broader vision of inclusive, student-centred learning.

“As we look at education transformation and revamping how our students learn—what they learn and in what environment—this is really at the heart of the transformation of the ministry,” Blackman told students, teachers, and parents. “This week should be one of the most memorable in your academic life.”

He explained that the shift towards project-based and experiential learning was crucial to preparing Barbadian students for a future in which “one size fits all” teaching models no longer apply.

“Our people and our children learn at different rates, at different speeds, have different ideas. Hence why you’re seeing, for example, the project-based learning—because yes, exams serve a particular context, but we learn differently.”

Underscoring the importance of STEAM disciplines in future-proofing the nation, Blackman said it was vital that young Barbadians transition from passive consumers of imported technologies to creators of homegrown solutions.

“It cannot be that only our counterparts from Europe or North America or Africa or Asia or the Arab world can be producers of amazing pieces of technology—and that we are simply importers,” he said. “Barbadian young people must be able to conceive, think, and create.”

He also called for a complete rethink of how the arts are integrated into the curriculum, arguing that music, dance, poetry and production[what type of production] should be positioned as core economic drivers, not extracurricular pursuits.

“We live in a world where the arts… are a major part of the global economy. Music as part of the course of learning has to be different in 2025 and beyond,” Blackman stated. “You should be able to produce sounds, music, beats, and manage artists. So by the time you leave school, you have the experience to step into the real world.”

Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, who also attended the launch, emphasised that the ministry’s goal is to foster students who can think critically, collaborate effectively, and communicate clearly.

“One of the things on which we focus is to ensure that our children are critical thinkers—that they can collaborate . . . and communicate,” she said.

Blackman concluded by challenging the school to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation beyond the week’s events.

“This campus should be abuzz with creativity every day. People should know this school is punching above its weight in terms of creating new things,” he said, encouraging students to proudly showcase their work online or via apps.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it,” he told the students. “Small steps, big results—that’s the key. Every big thing that you see today, whether it was an aircraft or a train, someone had to sit and conceive it—somebody like you.”

He ended his address with a mantra he hopes will echo in every classroom across the island: “Nothing is impossible . . . and therefore STEAM becomes a lived reality. Once your mind can conceive it, that’s all you need to do.” (SZB)