Welcome to ICSE STE(A)M Vision

Teachers across Europe need to support young people in understanding and solving complex real-world challenges from different disciplinary perspectives. This requires integrated STEAM teacher education that connects science, technology, engineering and mathematics with other disciplines. At the same time, many contexts still lack practice-oriented professional development opportunities, easily accessible international mobility formats and lasting European exchange structures. ICSE STE(A)M Vision addresses these needs by bringing together teacher education, school practice, research and education policy in a sustainable European partnership.

The project consortium brings together seven higher education institutions, European teacher education organisations, schools and education policy partners. It draws on the established networks of ICSE, European Schoolnet and EduNet, creating a European “hyper-network” that combines broad European reach with strong regional implementation.

At the heart of the project is the joint development of a high-quality European STEAM teacher education programme. In an interdisciplinary co-creation process, experts and practitioners from different STEAM disciplines, initial teacher education, continuing professional development and schools develop eight practice-based modules. The starting point is authentic societal challenges from four thematic areas: sustainability and economic competitiveness, digital transformation, food and health, and cultural, social and societal challenges.

Participants experience STEAM in the way students are intended to experience it: they start with a real-world problem and use knowledge and methods from different disciplines to develop solutions. This is complemented by pedagogical priorities such as assessment, the design of STEAM teaching, support for diverse learning needs, and the promotion of girls in STEM.

ICSE STE(A)M Vision is a European Teacher Academy for integrated STEAM teacher education and cross-border collaboration.

ICSE, the International Centre for STEM Education at the University of Education Freiburg, coordinates ICSE STE(A)M Vision. ICSE contributes many years of expertise in European STEM and STEAM education, teacher education, international research and development projects, and the establishment of sustainable education networks.

A leading Portuguese institution in research on education policy and science education. Its contribution focuses on the development of teacher training modules, pedagogical evaluation, and the involvement of teacher networks in reducing inequalities in science education, for example in the area of “Women in STEM”.

One of Türkiye’s leading higher education institutions in the field of education. It actively contributes to the
modular co-creation processes and helps ensure that STE(A)M education approaches can be adapted to
different international contexts and curricula.

EduNet Europe is a non-profit organisation working with a pan-European network of schools, universities, teacher education institutions and education authorities to develop research-informed and practice-oriented teacher education programmes. In STE(A)M Vision, EduNet organises webinars and blended professional development programmes for practising teachers, supports participating schools in project-related activities, and organises the project’s online mid-term conference.

A leading institution in the development of innovative teaching and learning approaches. Within the project, the Utrecht team plays a central role by hosting the Design Retreat, where the framework for the eight challenge-based and practice-oriented modules is jointly developed through an intensive co-creation process.

A network of more than 30 European Ministries of Education. European Schoolnet supports the systemic impact of the project’s recommendations by facilitating direct dialogue with education policymakers across Europe. At the same time, thousands of teachers are connected to the project’s results through the European Schoolnet Academy, a pioneering platform for online professional development, and Scientix®, the leading science education community in Europe.

A historic university and one of the most renowned higher education institutions in Central Europe. Its
Faculty of Education has particular expertise in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Within the project, it is
responsible for testing methodologies in authentic educational contexts and hosts practice-oriented training
activities and work weeks, particularly for future teachers.

The University of Klagenfurt is recognised for its expertise in educational innovation and research. It
contributes scientific expertise on key topics such as sustainability, digitalisation and health and supports
their integration into the project’s European interdisciplinary learning approach.

An Austrian university college of teacher education that contributes its expertise in teacher education and the development of pedagogical concepts and practices to the project.

A Portuguese group of public schools providing an authentic, practice-based educational environment in which the developed STE(A)M approaches can be implemented and tested together with students and teachers.

An Austrian public secondary school that plays an important role in piloting the developed modules and teaching materials under authentic classroom conditions.