Shaping the future starts with courageous conversations

Trekking across Australia as a 2023 STEM Together Future Shaper gave educator Lizz Hills the opportunity to ignite students’ imaginations with science – and teach them about the important part they can play as problem-solvers.

Applications are now open until 1 December 2023 for educators to share their own innovative approaches to STEM education as part of the 2024 program.

Trekking to reconnect students

When it comes to big global issues like climate change and natural disasters, children want to be informed. They want to understand what is happening to the world around them and their role in it. This is a key lesson that Ms Hills, an educator with Queensland’s Wild Mountains Environmental Education Centre, learned when she trekked across the breadth of Australia – sharing science with schools along the way.

The Trek 2 Reconnect initiative grew from the ashes of the recent crises Australia faced. Bushfires came close to her workplace, the Wild Mountains Environmental Education Centre. Shortly after, the impact of COVID, then flooding in her community, each made their mark.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to process it all,” Ms Hills says. “I saw an impact on my students and their outlook for what is possible.”

Playing a part in creating a healthier planet

In her desire to do something positive, Ms Hills wanted to help students across the country to “right size their perspective,” to help them build resilience and see that they play a role in the planet’s future.

She left Queensland on foot in January with her husband and son as her support crew and arrived in Western Australia six months, 6,000 kilometres and 14 schools later.

In her school visits, she helped students make sense of their changing world by talking about earth’s evolutionary history and cyclical nature. They explored topics like water, air soil, plants, animals – and finally, the future. According to Ms Hills, some students were surprised to hear that adults may not have all the solutions yet to fix the world’s problems.

“The thing that I am really passionate about is helping our kids understand what’s ahead and helping them with tools to be inspired that they are part of that solution,” she says. “The Trek 2 Reconnect isn’t just a story of one person walking across Australia. It’s really about how we can look towards a positive future, and all take one step forward at a time towards it.”

The next step forward

As one of five adults announced as 2023 Adult Future Shapers earlier this year, Ms Hills had the option of designing a prize – such as attending a conference or course – getting equipment or resources, or access support running an event to help students to go further with STEM.

For her prize, she chose to build on the lessons from the Trek 2 Reconnect to reach more schools. Throughout this year, STEM Together has supported her to create resource packs for classes, based on the earth science topics she covered in the trek. They are filled with things to build, activities to boost creativity and observational studies to carry out. “What I do changes the world” was the motto for her trek and a lesson for the students she encountered. Through Future Shapers, the journey continues for her and the students she reaches.

“I have led children through Gondwana rainforests for over a decade,” she told EducationDaily. “The most remarkable thing happens when our students comprehend the idea of things changing over time. Yes, the sun rises and sets, but what about holding our minds open for long enough to think about continents rising and falling, and the earth beneath our feet changing? When we understand those big earth science concepts we feel more at home in our own skins.”

Change comes from courageous conversations

Developing skills of observation in a natural setting, she says, sets learners up for a range of valuable skills. Dealing with challenging conversation was a recurring theme.

“The biggest reaction I came across was disbelief. I was on a campaign of hope for a positive future and did not seek out challenging conversations, but they came up time and time again. How we engage with each other and how we engage with our natural world are important for our survival and wellbeing into the future,” she says. “Sometimes, courageous actions start with courageous conversations.”

A call-out to support a better future

Ruth Carr is Director of CSIRO Education and says she is excited to kick off the organisation’s second annual round of STEM Together Future Shapers. Ms Carr says sharing lessons of problem-solving is an essential 21st-century skill that is underpinned by a deeper understanding of critical thinking skills, communication, curiosity, creativity, innovation and teamwork.

“As the National Science Agency, we work on solving some of Australia’s biggest challenges, so we value problem-solving skills highly. We know that not every young person is going to be a scientist, but the ability to understand an issue and to plan, try and learn from solutions is a critical, transferable skill. It helps students to build resilience, adaptability, and confidence to take on whatever life throws at them,” she told EducationDaily.

For teachers considering nominating themselves as a potential Future Shaper, Ms Carr says “educators so often put their students first, but now it’s your turn to put your hand up”.

“You can choose to do something for yourself or for your students,” she says. “We work to put cutting-edge science into the hands of young people, to build the diverse, STEM-capable workforce Australia needs. But we can’t do this without educators.”

The importance of teaching STEM

Ms Carr says teachers can have a profound impact on engaging students in specific subjects.

“We want to help educators to feel confident and empowered to inspire students with STEM because, more than ever, STEM skillsets are essential for the workforce and for handling challenges of the future,” she told EducationDaily.

In addition to the Future Shapers recognition program, Ms Carr points to a range of opportunities CSIRO Education offers – all aimed at supporting educators to build their confidence with STEM, including the STEM Professionals in Schools program that partners teachers with STEM industry experts to be mentored, or for class interactions, as well as the state-specific offerings of Living STEM in Western Australia’s Pilbara region and Deadly in Generation STEM in NSW that guide teachers to incorporate Indigenous knowledges into STEM classes.

“You can choose to do something for yourself or for your students,” she says. “We work to put cutting-edge science into the hands of young people, to build the diverse, STEM-capable workforce Australia needs. But we can’t do this without educators.”