This handbook has been brewing for a while, like a good cup of chai that gets better the longer it simmers. The ingredients: Social Emotional Learning, Arts, and STEM, were mixed a couple of years ago when I teamed up with a passionate tribe of educators: Ajita Deshmukh, Daisy Wadhwa, Ilavenil K, and Ambily Joseph. Together we cooked up a three-hour SEL course for a competition. It didn’t quite win the prize, but like forgotten masala in the spice box, the idea never lost its flavour. It just needed a second boil.

Fast-forward to 2025 with the green light from my co-creators and the support of the 2025 Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW) program, I poured this idea into a fresh pot and reimagined it as a handbook. Enormous thanks to my mentor Geoffrey B. Cain, whose advice was like the sugar that makes the chai just right, and to Ajita Deshmukh, my co-creator and OE4BW hub coordinator, your brainstorming was pure ginger: strong, energizing, and impossible to leave out. And of course, heartfelt gratitude to the reviewers, who added the perfect finishing touch, like cardamom in the brew, making this resource ready to share.

And this handbook isn’t just for schoolteachers. Whether you’re 13 or 103, guiding a class, leading a community circle, mentoring young people, or supporting learning at home: you are an educator. And this handbook is for you!

We’ve designed it to work even when internet is patchy or devices are scarce, because good teaching, like good chai, should be enjoyed anywhere. For those with steady connectivity, an interactive version is being developed on Pressbooks. A special note of thanks to Sushumna Rao Tadinada, CEO of JustWrite Pressbooks, for hosting the handbook, much like placing a cup of chai where it can be seen and shared.

The best part of this project is that the publication of this handbook is only the beginning! If you create a doodle, a drama, a soundtrack, or a lesson plan using these ideas, share it with us! You’ll be credited, and your contribution will add a new spice to the community pot.

So, pour yourself a cup, dive in, and let’s make education not just brain food, but soul food.

Natasha Maria Gomes, Ph.D.

natashamariagomes@gmail.com

As a teacher, instructional designer, and Open Education for a Better World faculty mentor, I am very excited about Natasha Maria Gomes’ workbook. This guide highlights what is possible when you rethink how learning happens.

It showcases teaching methods that reshape the boundaries of STEM education through techniques like doodling, music, and drama. These approaches are not just enrichment. They are central tools for deeper understanding, engagement, and wider inclusion.

In this book, students don’t memorize formulas or follow rigid procedures. They make meaning through movement, sound, and sketch. These methods activate learning, support neurodiversity, and invite a broader range of students to fully participate. You’ll find examples of students diagramming processes, using rhythm to understand algorithms, and performing scientific concepts to connect theory to lived experience. These are effective, research-informed strategies that align with Universal Design for Learning and open pedagogy principles.

This guide values your role as a teacher and designer of learning. It supports you with sample activities, lesson plan templates, and frameworks you can adapt. You don’t need to be an artist, musician or actor. You need curiosity, a willingness to empower your students, and a commitment to building flexible pathways to learning.

The work documented here is innovative because it recognizes that creativity and critical thinking are not separate skills but deeply connected. It invites you to trust your students, and to trust yourself, to teach STEM in ways that are vivid, inclusive, and transformative.

You don’t have to teach the way you were taught.

This guide will show you another way.

Geoffrey B. Cain, M.S.Ed.

As a Hub Coordinator for Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW), it gives me immense joy to introduce this workbook by Natasha Maria Gomes. The OE4BW program thrives on ideas that challenge conventions and open new doors for learning. This handbook is a reflection of that spirit, where exploration, experimentation, and creativity meet pedagogy.

OE4BW has always believed that open education is not just about access to resources, but about enabling new ways of thinking and teaching. It provides mentors, mentees, and coordinators with the freedom to question traditional practices and to design bold, learner-centred approaches. Natasha’s work is a guiding example of what happens when educators are encouraged to innovate within this open, collaborative environment.

This guide reimagines STEM education by weaving in doodling, music, and drama—not as add-ons, but as powerful pathways for inclusion and engagement. It demonstrates how open pedagogy empowers teachers to connect knowledge with lived experiences, making learning both meaningful and transformative.

As Hub Coordinator, I have witnessed how OE4BW projects like this one inspire communities of practice worldwide. They remind us that education is most impactful when it invites participation, values diversity, and cultivates creativity alongside critical thinking.

I warmly invite you to engage with this workbook not only as a set of teaching resources, but also as a testament to the possibilities that emerge when educators are trusted to experiment and learners are trusted to explore.

This is the promise of open education, and this is the journey OE4BW continues to champion.

Ajita Deshmukh, Ph.D.