Updates from Spain, Sweden, Malta and Austria
Spain: Spreading the Word
In Spain, we have presented the ICSE Academy aims and activities at key strategic events. This is the case of the three events described and illustrated below:
The ICSE Academy was introduced at the round table discussion about funded Teacher Academies organised by SEPIE, the Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of education. The presentation of the characteristics, aims and activities planned withing the ICSE Academy allowed the audience to recognise the huge potential of the ICSE Academy consortium and to appreciate to what extent the different types of mobilities promoted by the project could enhance teacher professional development through international mobility. The round table discussion was watched by over 200 teachers and teacher educators.
Presentation of proSTEM, the project funding the ICSE Academy, at the round table discussion organised by SEPIE, the Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of education.
Presentation of proSTEM at the Congress entitled ‘Jaén Educa’.
Another key event where the ICSE Academy was presented was the Congress entitled “Jaén Educa”, which took place in November 2023. This event gathered over 450 teachers and teacher educators from different locations to discuss different ways to enhance the teaching practice and the teaching career. This event offered a fantastic opportunity to teachers to learn about the ICSE Teacher Academy activities they could join, as a way to enhance their profession through international experiences.
The ICSE Academy was also presented at the national meeting organised by ÁPICE, the Spanish Association of Teachers and Researchers in Science Education, which was held in Antequera in November 2023. During this meeting, Marta Romero Ariza, as leader of the Spanish team and the main responsible of the ICSE Academy in Spain, presented the main results of the evaluation of the of the first ICSE Academy summer school. Those results showed research evidence of the positive impact of the ICSE Academy activities on participants’ beliefs about international collaborations and their knowledge about innovative teaching methods.
As a consequence of the Spanish dissemination at these strategic events over 700 Spanish teachers and teacher educators have heard of the ICSE Academy and its main activities, outcomes and affordances.
Presentation of proSTEM at the national meeting organised by ÁPICE, the Spanish Association of Teachers and Researchers in Science Education, attended by 190 science teachers and teacher educators.
Sweden: Tranferring a Job-Shadowing Activity
One of the professional development activities in the ICSE Academy project is the job-shadowing activity. In November 2023 I, Eva-Lena Jonsson at Jönköping University, Sweden, was invited to a lecture about Micro: bit coding at Trondheim University in Norway. Then it was transferred it to other teaching settings in Sweden. After some adjustments it is possible to do a similar lesson in other countries. This makes Europe a bit “smaller” and provides a possibility for a more equal teacher education in STEM subjects in Europe.
Malta: Workshop Session “Assessment”
Over the past 18 months, the University of Malta (UM) team has been working closely with the partner schools on several aspects of the ICSE Academy. This work involved ongoing meetings with four STEM teacher leaders, both face-to-face and online, during which they discussed aspects related to an analysis of the professional development needs of STEM teachers, the participation of STEM teachers from Malta in the European Workshop Series and STEM educators’ views about assessment. Throughout these conversations, recurring themes emerged regarding teachers’ opinions on the current school-based assessment system and formative practices. These discussions served to provide them with unique insights into the potential needs of STEM teachers when planning and delivering the European Workshop session on ‘Assessment’.
Austria: European Workshop Series
The University of Klagenfurt (Austria) offers the European Workshop Series “Teaching STEM Subjects” as a Microcredentials Course. Participants from all countries can attend for free and receive 4 ECTS for completing the Microcredentials Course.
Please get in touch with Markus Messerschmidt (markus.messerschmidt@aau.at) for any questions or if support is needed.
