• The GSO4School Summer School 2021 is offering teachers a unique training experience based on the “Global Science Opera” practices that were developed through both Lifelong Learning Programms (LLP) and Coordination and Support Action projects (CSA) that were funded by the European Commission.
  GSO4SCHOOL Summer School 2021 aims to introduce innovative practices for teaching Sciences in the classroom by engaging students in collaborative activities involving the Arts. These practices are in line with the project’s main impact which is described as follows:
• Improved long-term understanding of science learning, the roles of the learner, with better-informed citizens engaging with the grand challenges, while developing a collaboration culture among participants through the “universal language” that art provides.
• Ensured scientific and interdisciplinary competencies as well as digital literacy for all, improved employability and informed citizenship.
• Bridging gaps between science education and teacher education research, teacher preparation, teaching practices and learning.
• Better understandings of the effects of collaboration between science education providers, local stakeholder and educational networks.
• Development of a culture of responsibility, responsiveness, innovation and broad participation in all aspects of science, science and entrepreneurship education, and science communication.

Τhe GSO4School summer school introduces an innovative blend between Inquiry Based Science Education model (IBSE) through Design Thinking and Interdisciplinarity that foster STEAM.

A few words about STEAM
STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics, though “A”, as the term keeps spreading the word of this innovative approach around Europe, tends to mean rather “All disciplines” in nowadays. STEAM pedagogy connects different disciplines with each other on an inquiry and collaborative manner. It brings new pedagogical methodologies in the classroom, with the use of state of the art educational technology tools. This way active, discovery-based, and more engaging learning can be facilitated, with opportunities for collaboration, co-creation and collective knowledge building. STEAM pedagogy will address different disciplines such as music, science/maths and engineering/technology.

GSO4SCHOOL project reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the STE(A)M world on a double dimension:

1. it connects concepts and skills from different disciplines in order to look better to a whole
2. it recommends that teachers with different backgrounds (music, science/maths, engineering) work together to bring this STEAM pedagogy to the classroom.

The GSO4School framework

The GSO4School project has developed a special pedagogical framework that aims to enhance teacher’s professional development with an alternative approach in implementing innovative science education practices in school through creative approaches. In this perspective the project adapt the existing pedagogical approaches developed in older projects together with the rational of design thinking. The Global Science Opera (GSO) initiative was developed, evolved and crystallized as a description of good practice under the pedagogical approaches of CREAT-IT (http://creatit-project.eu/) and CREATIONS project (http://creations-project.eu/).  The use of creativity and arts practices constitutes a strong advantage in order to enhance STEM education and address inequality in science learning; in recent years the trend is to include the “A” in STE(A)M education, thus placing a strong focus on transdisciplinarity. By doing so the project fosters the development of school students’ interest, participation, motivation and performance in science.

The educational material

During the Summer School participants will have the opportunity not only to be introduced into the project’s educational material, but also to experience hands-on practices upon the project’s activities and to share their ideas for further development of the initiative.

This website will act as a main hub of communication and for sharing and distributing preparatory material with the participants. Participants will have a common workspace for uploading and downloading educational materials.

Participants will have to get acquainted with the training topics as well as the course methodology by accessing the materials and tools which will be available in advance through the website.

Before coming to the summer school, participants will be asked to review some materials relative to the topic of the summer school and the methodologies that will be discussed. More specifically, they will need to familiarize themselves with educational materials that will be provided about learning-design and inquiry-based science education;

As a follow-up to the training course, the participants will be asked to make use of the activities they worked on during the summer school and share their work with the community of teachers.

As members of our community of science teachers, participants will be constantly informed about new initiatives they can participate in, as well as new activities they can choose to use. They have access to support provided by the training team, and they will be able to communicate their work and ideas with other science teachers in European countries and beyond, who have a common interest.

In order to assess the impact of the course, participants will have to answer, during and at the end of the course, a set of relevant questionnaires that will be provided by the course providers. The results of the questionnaires/survey or a so-called evaluation report will be available to all participants of the course.

The preliminary programme of the project is as follows: