STEAM activities in 0-6 services should aim to give children a space to explore scientific and artistic concepts and experiences, while developing problem solving, imagination, creativity and social skills in a playful atmosphere that encourages inclusivity and group collaboration.
The training proposal is aimed at ECEC teachers with the objective of developing design and technical skills to use STEAM disciplines as fields of experience and learning for children, exploring the potential of the intersections between expressive languages and scientific disciplines. The contact and contamination zones created when 2 or more languages (meaning modalities of expression and communication, ways of access to knowledge and reality) are present together are potential areas of development that can facilitate learning.
In the training course, participants are involved in practical activities to understand and “feel” the connections, experimenting with new ways of understanding and learning things that are usually perceived as specialised and out of the ordinary: the course aims to make the participants feel comfortable with music, mathematics and robotics concepts and knowledge in a holistic and natural way.
The pilot Mumabot training course was led by 3 trainers (one expert in the musical field, one expert in preschool mathematical activities and one expert in educational robotics) and involved 34 participants (mostly teachers and some pedagogical coordinators) from infant-toddler’s centers, preschools, primary schools and music schools.
It had a total duration of 25 hours over the course of four months, structured in:
A three hours online closing meeting, in which the trainers gave a global overview of common themes emerged from the trainees documentation, and gave space for discussion between trainees.
