Conference “Sharing Inspiration 2019”
Sharing Inspiration 2019 – The Power of Realisation was the conference organised from 28th to 31st of March by an educator network called T3 Europe (T-cubed) in collaboration with the European Commission (DG EAC, DG Connect), European Schoolnet, Scientix, SEMI Europe, SME United, Digital Europe, WKO, ZVEI, ITI, MNU, Transport Malta, Saxon State Ministry of Education, Texas Instruments and others. T³ Europe is an association of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) teachers that serves as an umbrella body for 12 country organizations to provide quality professional development, classroom-proven content and integrated state-of-the-art classroom pedagogy.
The primary aim of the conference was to bring educators and policy makers together in order to share best practices around Europe regarding STEM education aligned with the curriculum. The organisers emphasized the double meaning of the conference theme which was “Sharing Inspiration – The Power of Realisation”. They explained that “to realize” was used in the sense of “to understand” and also of “to make something concretely happen”, reflecting pedagogical efforts around “Coding” and “Making”.
On 28th of March, part of our Scientix team had an opportunity to attend the first day of the conference which was specifically dedicated to policy makers, industry stakeholders and key decision makers. The event kicked off with a warm welcome by Jiři Buriánek, Secretary General of European Committee of the Regions who highlighted that in today’s competitive world Europe should invest more in STEM Education. Afterwards, Dr Insa Thiele-Eich took us for “A journey to the Stars” with her inspiring story on becoming the first German female astronaut.
“We want children to think: STEM!”
Marie-Paul Buyse, KU Leuven
The program followed with two “Classroom Implementation” sessions during which moderators and experts were discussing innovative solutions for adjusting educational systems to ongoing challenges. We got insights from researchers, policy makers, educators and industry representatives. Marie-Paule Buyse shared the results of the STEM@School research by KU Leuven and talked about the online tool they developed. Robert Cabane, the former General Math Inspector of the Ministry of Education in France, presented the reform of French national curricula which aims to challenge the traditional educational system. The reform started in 2012 and will continue until 2022. Adina Nistor, Project Officer in European Schoolnet, shared a great example from BLOOM project on how to implement a new topic, such as bioeconomy, in the classroom.
“80% of the technology that we use in 10 years is not invented yet.”
Marc Durando, Executive Director of European Schoolnet
After a fruitful exchange of good practices, we moved to the issue of placing STEM teaching in the wider context. During this session, we had an opportunity to hear from policy makers and industry representatives about their roles in supporting STEM education. Dr László Csák, expert of the rapporteur in the Committee of the Regions, stated that local politicians are aware that they need to invest more in STEM in order to see the regional development. A strong focus was also put on developing digital competencies by highlighting the importance of the EU programmes such as Horizon2020.
The first day of the conference ended with summarizing the key lessons learnt from each session in a unique way – moderators shared the conclusion of their sessions not only with the participants of the conference but also on social media, reaching out to the public.
Day 2 to 4 of Sharing Inspiration 2019 were designed for educators and teacher trainers who attended various workshops and presentations on STEM education. In addition to this, the organisers prepared an amazing networking event which was a great opportunity for teachers, organisations and industry to learn more about each other’s initiatives, current projects and future plans. We enjoyed presenting Scientix and other STEM projects run by European Schoolnet, as well as discovering interesting STEM initiatives all around the world. We saw great examples of creative solutions used in the classroom to make students more interested and involved in studying STEM subjects.
Day 2 to 4 of Sharing Inspiration 2019 were designed for educators and teacher trainers who attended various workshops and presentations on STEM education. In addition to this, the organisers prepared an amazing networking event which was a great opportunity for teachers, organisations and industry to learn more about each other’s initiatives, current projects and future plans. We enjoyed presenting Scientix and other STEM projects run by European Schoolnet, as well as discovering interesting STEM initiatives all around the world. We saw great examples of creative solutions used in the classroom to make students more interested and involved in studying STEM subjects.
“For the last 12 years, STEM is the priority for most of the Ministries of Education”
Dr. Àgueda Gras-Velázquez, Science Programme Manager, European Schoolnet
Attending events like this one is always an inspiring experience which gives us a big motivation boost. Seeing dedicated educators from different parts of the world, discovering innovative education approaches and being a part of global discussion remind us what we, as European Schoolnet, strive for – transforming education in Europe.
Authors: Antonija Grizelj, Ola Miklasińska
Tags: conference, Sharing Inspiration 2019, STEM