It was in the beautiful city of Vilnius that the last conference of the CREATEskills project entitled “STEM Learning @Primary Schooling” was organized and hosted by the Lithuanian partner Metis Baltic. The event was attended by Dr Austèja Lanbergienè, education consultant in Lithuania and director of the Queen Mortas School. In the Director’s words, «CREATESkills ‘merit lies not only in its ability to arouse students’ passion for science, but also for teachers themselves.» Another guest, the University of Athens researcher and STEM entrepreneur Thanos Yamas representing IoTask, stressed the importance of: (i) strengthening the policy framework that favors the integration of STEM in education; ii) involve policy makers and other organizations, in addition to the school community, in developing strategies in the area of STEM; and iii) strengthen the proximity between organizations and professionals in the scientific and educational fields. Finally, Dr. Urtè Neniškytè of the University of Vilnius presented the theme «Neuroscience of primary schooling», whose contribution to the Createskills conference was to: (i) reinforce the active involvement of students through pedagogy, technology and improvement of learning spaces; ii) promote opportunities and activities to enhance cooperation and communication between scientists and teachers; iii) and bring neuroscience to schools with the support of schools and teachers.
In addition to the guest speakers, the partnership also actively participated in the conference, particularly the schools, presenting the impact and relevance that the resources developed had on students, teachers and the rest of the educational community, which allowed:
? motivate and involve primary school teachers in science education;
? motivate and arouse students’ enthusiasm for learning;
? promote freedom and willingness to learn and try new things (students);
? involve families in school activities;
? place primary school students in the preparation and presentation of activities to the school community;
? favor interdisciplinarity in the development of activities in class and school;
? promote curriculum flexibility;
? foster the development of skills such as critical thinking, emotional management, cooperation and teamwork;
? appreciation and giving voice to the most disadvantaged students;
? the development of projects following the scientific method: the Thunder Project, for example;
? strengthening local partnerships with laboratories and associations;
? apply the scientific method in teaching languages and literature: observe, question, research, launch and test hypotheses and draw conclusions in the analysis of local legends.
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