Support for pre-school educators in STEAM education
Project title
Support for pre-school educators in STEAM education
Name of Beneficiary/Beneficiaries
Ignatianum Academy in Cracow
Name of programme
Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development
Competition
Course at MOOC
Project value
PLN 119,987.50
Funding value
PLN 116,387.87
Project delivery period
from 01-01-2019 to 30-09-2021
What problem does our project solve?
Improving the quality of education at the early childhood education and care level in terms of science teaching and the acquisition of key competences: mathematics and science and technology, information technology, learning skills and initiative and entrepreneurship were priorities for our activities. Disseminating the principles of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary learning in the STEAM approach (an acronym consisting of the first letters of the English names of scientific disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) in working with the young child is one element of efforts to improve the quality of education, which lays the foundations for later success in life in terms of education, well-being, employability, better social integration and is particularly important for children from disadvantaged families, as it contributes to their equal opportunities and the reduction of inequalities. Our project contributes to improving the competence of teachers, educators, parents in STEAM, understood as the ability to model, deliver and create rich child/student-centred learning experiences. What matters is how children acquire scientific knowledge and how they can use this knowledge, apply it to life. The result of our project is an open-access course that allows anyone interested in children's education to acquire new or consolidate already acquired IT, analytical, including problem-solving competences and to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for methodological work with children in the field of STEAM education.
Who is going to benefit from the project results?
The results of the project, a course on the educational platform navoica.pl - 'STEAM education in kindergarten', will benefit teachers of kindergarten and grades I-III, students of pedagogy and pre-school and early childhood education, parents, university teachers, but above all children, who will be taught by those who gain knowledge about STEAM education.
Which aspect of the project implementation have we found to be the most challenging?
The biggest challenge was to be able to develop the course materials in a form that was attractive to participants. When we started our project we were operating in the traditional higher education system. Most of us taught in direct contact with the students. The project required us to overcome the stress of using new technologies in education, complete our methodological workshop and improve our forms of communication.