ATLAS of Best Practices in STEM Education Finland, Ireland, Sweden, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan Contents 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………..3 2. STEM-EDUCATION IN FINLAND……………………………………………………………5 3. STEM EDUCATION IN IRELAND……………………………………………………………20 4. STEM-EDUCATION IN SWEDEN…………………………………………………………..45 5. STEM-EDUCATION IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION………………………………75 6. STEM-EDUCATION IN KAZAKHSTAN……………………………………………………96 7. REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………………116 2 Introduction STEM education which is considered as “an interdisciplinary approach to learning where academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons as students apply Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in contexts that make connections between school, community, work, and the global enterprise enabling the development of STEM literacy and with it the ability to compete in the new economy, is engineering the future workforce all over the world“. The aim of the package „Best policies and practices” is to lay the foundations for further “Integrative approach to STEM Teacher Training” project activities. The WP is divided into 2 parts: 1.the development of project policies and strategies to ensure smooth running of the project and cost-effective achievement of results; 2. Identification of best practices in STEM strategies implementation at national levels, on the one hand, and of real needs of different target groups in STEM skills, on the other hand. Atlas of Best Practices in STEM Education is a progress indicator of second part of the WP „Best policies and practices”. The aim of this atlas is to collect best practices and initiatives based on reports on STEM policies and best practices at respective national and regional level given by EU partners, RU and KZ participants of the project shaped into an atlas. This atlas is a key indicator for development of the Project book «STEM best practices in EU and Partner countries». The content of this atlas will be a) used in order to develop a master's program in the field of STEM education and, therefore, to organize new staff in the field of STEM in the countries participating in the project b) included into T&L resources to be developed in WP3. Further, the best STEM practices of EU partners of the project will be reviewed in details. Thus, the content of the atlas begins with Finland best STEM practices, such as for example LUMA, F2k, EpiSTEM, PaikkaOppi, Summamutikka etc. The other part is represented by Ireland best Stem practices (ATSSTEM, ENERGE, Maths4All.ie, 3DIPHE, Open Schools for Open Societies etc.). Then comes Sweden with its best STEM practices such as CETIS, NRCF, NCM, NATDID, KRC etc. Another part of the atlas describes Turkey’s best STEM practices (FATİH project, BİLTEMM, IYTE, Istanbul Aydın University STEM Laboratory etc.). The other two parts of atlas are represented by RU and KZ best STEM practices. It goes without saying that STEM qualifications and skills are necessary for current and future workforce in the Russian Federation due to political and economic pressures as well as improvement of knowledge delivery and employability skills 3 development. STEM-subjects are the basis for staff training of the scientific- technological elite for the innovative development of the country in the context of Scientific and Technological Development Strategy of the Russian Federation, as well as for the implementation of the national program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation and „National Technological Initiative“. There are also a lot of authentic STEM practices and initiatives such as NTI STEM-related education projects and practices, STEM-related “Sirius” education practices, STEM Centers of the All-Russian Festival of Science 0+, Skolkovo MAKERspace STEM Education Center for schoolchildren etc., that will be thoroughly described in this atlas. In the end of the atlas KZ best STEM practices are represented, such as NIS, RFMSh, MIRAS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL etc. Thus, the following Atlas of Best Practices in STEM Education represents a big variety of best national STEM practices and could be used as T&L resources for the future STEM teachers, students of the Master program in STEM teacher training. 4 STEM-EDUCATION IN FINLAND Context Since the 1970s, the education system has been reformed in Finland. It became decentralized, as each school or educational institution received autonomy to improve its education. The reform focused on three aspects: - new approaches in pedagogy; - new learning environments; - digitalization of education; The goal of the reform was to improve learning outcomes, take into account future competencies, renew pedagogy through experimentation, and turn to learn into an inspirational process throughout life. Nowadays, STEM education technologies are included in all areas of Finland's school curriculum. STEM technology is not an additional set of standards in a problem-oriented approach to the creation of educational materials and their combination with educational standards for the formation of new competencies of the 21st century. The STEM approach can contribute to the development of student curiosity and creativity. Building a problem-oriented material is not as difficult as it might seem since the topics for projects can be environmental issues, food production, energy and other topics that are relevant around the world. Characteristics of the Finnish education ecosystem123: - cooperation in strategic work - long-term shared vision through collaboration: higher education quality for everyone - educational partners work closely - cooperation with social services and health care - equity in education - education is free (books, food, healthcare) - well-organized specialized training and counseling - school social assistance group as part of the ecosystem - quality through decentralization 1 Laukkanen R (2008). Finnish Strategy for High-Level Education for All. Teoksessa NC Soguel & P Jaccard (toim.), Governance and Performance of Educational Systems. Springer. ss. 305-324 2 Niemi H (2011). Educating student teachers to become high quality professionals – A Finnish case. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 1(1), 43-66. 3 Sahlberg P (2011). The Professional Educator: Lessons from Finland. American Educator, 35(2), 34-38. 5 - leadership, management and quality work at the school level - teachers are responsible for the local curriculum and assessment The secret of national policy is the importance of education for the development of a country, as well as for the adoption of unorthodox educational methodologies (as STEM) designed for the present and future of the younger generation. The STEM approach requires students to self-identify a problem, conduct research, develop a solution, test and evaluate the solution, and report the results. These competencies overlap with global scientific and technological competencies. This allows students to develop the skills of creativity, research, cooperation and communication that they need in order to realize global problems and prospects and become part of the solution to existing and future problems. Teaching in Finland is considered one of the best professions. Teachers are on a par with doctors and lawyers, so there is a lot of competition to work in the education system. Even a master's degree in research is one of the teaching requirements. This means that teachers have five to seven and a half years of preparation before they lead a class. Future STEM teachers not only learn teaching methods but also spend a year at the university, learning how to teach this approach. They are taught how to participate in joint project teams and create such teams. Natural disciplines at all levels of instruction are taught through STEM technology. Teachers are given a lot of freedom to try innovative approaches, such as developing an “outdoor math curriculum,” or joining forces with others to implement a team-based teaching method. Thus, Finnish schoolchildren demonstrate a rapid increase in horizons and an integrative approach to knowledge, as evidenced by their consistently high results in the PISA test (The Program for International Student Assessment). There is also a craft curriculum in Finland. In 2004, it was decided to include technology in the curriculum for crafts. Education in Finland uses a pedagogical model of dialogue. This means that “the Finnish teacher is a kind of a guide in the classroom, and not as an authority model as in other systems. This requires more of the students, ponders their answers and triggers a dialogue between them under the guidance of the teacher. Argumentation and exchange of ideas are encouraged. " This same aspect will help the student to develop with greater confidence in their learning. Even in education in Finland, teachers “can choose their teaching methods, textbooks and other materials,” says the Finnish General Directorate for Education. Thus, students in schools learn in a more autonomous and equitable space, where it is important that all students study at the same time as others and given that the 6 school is an example in which they receive a less rigid education. Finnish students are “more concerned with understanding the phenomena”, along with the fact that one of the most characteristic features of these phenomena is that they are very organized and disciplined. STEM-Related National Policies and Initiatives The country’s national curriculum urges teachers to teach science through integrated and inquiry approaches4. Project-based science learning (PBSL)