Full STEAM ahead, Europe! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Full STEAM ahead, Europe!

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

“Full STEAM ahead, Europe!” had its origin in the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, when four primary schools established in four different regions of Europe (Scandinavia, British Isles, Central Europe and the Mediterranean Basin) realised that this European diversity was a key starting point to encourage their school communities to discover and engage with Europe’s cultural heritage, and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. Regarding the slogan for the European Year of Cultural Heritage, “Our heritage: where the past meets the future”, they established a link between our enduring and valuable legacy and the innovation in Education by means of STEAM approach, the project-based learning that crosses all five disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths).

Understanding the crucial role of our diverse heritage in building the future of Europe and the fundamental duty of education for promoting sustainable development, the partnership defined nine general objectives to be achieved with the aim of discovering their diversity and starting an inter-cultural conversation about what they had in common (horizontal priority: Social and Educational value of European Cultural Heritage). However, as stated before, there was also a nod to the future and education as an engine of change with the inclusion of the school priority of promoting the acquisition of skills and competences and the horizontal priority related to open education and innovative practices in a digital era. In other words: Past and future, together, in hands of skilled and competent European teachers and pupils.

Our four participant schools had already gained experience in different and isolated STEAM fields, but this project as a whole allowed them to develop an interdisciplinary work implementing a brand new education guideline. Their combined expertise in Science teaching, Robotics, Coding and Programming, ICT management or Engineering turned them into a solid and efficient working team.

In order to achieve the project’s objectives they designed both local and transnational activities that could be put in these groups:

– Mobilities: four short-term exchanges of groups of pupils and a short-term joint staff.
– ICT: eTwinning Projects, developing audiovisual materials
– STEAM: learning and practising programming, coding, robotics, 3D modelling.
– Arts & Crafts: Design of a Logo Contest, exhibitions, drawings, learning and performing music scores.
– Informative: calling parents and staff meetings, publishing news bulletin.
– Exchanges: sharing materials.
– Language: all those related to learning and improving the project languages.

Diverse methodology in carrying out the project was used, regarding the kind/model of learning they were focusing on: cooperative learning, language learning, researching, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, etc. For all of them, a five-stage procedure was established, to be followed both teaching and managing (preparation, implementation, follow-up, assesment and dissemination).

The results produced by the project were both tangible and strategic. Examples of the first distinction were audiovisual resources, arts and crafts, the project’s magazine and website, a European billboard, open educational resources,scale models of monuments, training materials or updated schools documents and policies. On the other hand, there were strategic results (outcomes), like raising awareness of the importance of Europe’s cultural heritage and the project’s role in its growth and dissemination; fostering intercultural dialogue and educational exchange; establishing long-lasting communicative networks between schools; promoting STEAM methodology as an access point for guiding student inquiry and broaden knowledge; supporting new teaching methods and tools as drivers of improvements in education; or improving the pupils’ competence in languages, among others.

The project had an important impact in ranging widely their core curricula, not only in the development of European contents, but in the restructuring of subjects and methodologies on behalf of an adequate cross-curricular action plan. Besides, the spread effects of a project of thatmagnitude were also reflected in each educational community.

There were several potential longer-term benefits associated to the project. However, all participant schools summed them up in the complete and successful implementation of a long-lasting European Dimension in their curriculum, together with STEAM methodology and 21st century classroom skills (coding, programming and robotics).

In conclusion, the project was a sincere declaration of love for Europe, for innovative pedagogy, and a unique opportunity for four diverse-region schools to make a stand together and confidently assert: “Full STEAM ahead, Europe! Let’s see how fast and far this will go!”

Project Website

https://fullsteamaheadeurope.com/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 71592 Eur

Project Coordinator

Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria San Antonio & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Zakladni skola a materska skola Hranice, Struhlovsko, prispevkova organizace
• Naistenmatkan koulu
• Escomb Primary school