There is no direct approach since
<resources>
<style name="AppTheme" parent="android:Theme.Material">
</style>
But in KitKat we can bring the appearance of a material theme without much effort using a transparent interface.
FLAG_TRANSLUCENT_STATUS or
<item name="android:windowTranslucentNavigation">false</item>
<item name="android:windowTranslucentStatus">true</item>
Check this post for more information: Appearance of the material theme in KitKat