Transdisciplinarity: Re-visioning how science and arts together can enact democratizing creative educational experiences

Our global community is at a pivotal juncture. Caught between a future of social and environmental instability on the one hand, and technological and technocratic determinism on the other, questions pertaining to the articulation of democracy and education for creativities have become central. The movement from STEM to STEAM with its emphasis on real-world applications promises to transform education to meet the changing needs of a globally connected world. However, the potential of transdisciplinarity to inspire and deepen our understanding of who we are and how we make sense of the world remains undertheorized. This article provides a case for re-positioning STEAM education as democratized enactments of transdisciplinary education, where arts and sciences are not separate or even separable endeavors. The article draws upon evidence and theorizing from three interconnected projects that exemplify transdisciplinarity across music, mathematics and science education, transgressing and transcending disciplinary boundaries. We draw upon posthumanist theorizing to diffract such educational practices, allowing us to attend to both human and nonhuman perspectives, displacing and generating new insights that go beyond humanist, disciplinary and normative accounts. By repositioning STEAM as a forum for transdisciplinarycreative educational experiences, we invite a rethink of the work of schools, going beyonddemocratizing creativity to fully enact posthumanist transdisciplinarity.