The SteamOnEdu project takes its first steps in Europe, starting from Greece
Stati Generali dell'Innovazione participated in the two-day kick-off meeting of the biennial project “SteamOnEdu – Competence development of STE(A)M educators through online tools and communities”, held in Athens on 21 and 22 January.
The project STE(A)MonEdu has the objective of proposing policies at every governmental level – local, regional, national or European – to implement the STEAM approach in schools, both in formal and informal education, providing institutions with a complete reference platform for defining of the professional profiles required and of the didactic planning.
The acronym STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics), indicates a multidisciplinary approach that is spreading throughout Europe, also thanks to Erasmus+ projects.
It is a new educational paradigm that urges students to approach scientific disciplines by exercising an experimental attitude, using imagination, creatively solving real-world problems, so that they concretely experience how the scientific method can be applied to everyday life .
To carry out the project STE(A)MonEdu a "bottom-up" approach was chosen: in April a community of operators and experts in the sector from various European countries will be set up, which will collaborate to identify practices and policies in the various countries, analyze them and develop all the elements of the platform.
In addition to the General States of Innovation representing Italy, the following will be part of the working group: Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Western EL Greece/Ministry of Education Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs (Greece); Colectic (Spain); Fundatia EOS – Educating for an Open Society (Romania); Hollywood media and education (Germany); ALL DIGITAL (Belgium); CTI – Institouto Technologias Ypologistonkai Ekdoseon Diofantos (Greece).
«SGI participates because the topic of studying STEAM disciplines in Italian schools has always been at the center of our attention – explains Paolo Russo, project manager for the General States of Innovation -, especially through actions to raise awareness for the enrollment of girls in school courses of this type. Within the project we are coordinators of the Work Package on Internal Quality Assessment, we participate in the whole process and we are responsible in particular for the collection of existing practices and policies, as well as for the piloting of training activities».
Why is this project important? «Because at European level there is still no reference framework for the professional profile required for teachers using the STEAM multidisciplinary approach. We want to work together to create a single platform that guarantees its homogeneous and correct dissemination, overcoming the current problem of the fragmentation of actions at European level» concludes Russo.
