Creative Little Scientists: enabling creativity through science and mathematics in preschool and first years of primary education: guidelines and curricula for teacher training (D5.2)

Abstract

One of the key objectives of the Creative Little Scientists project is to propose a set of curriculum design principles as guidelines for European initial teacher education (ITE) and continuous professional development (CPD) programmes that will foster creative approaches to science and mathematics learning in preschool and the first years of primary education in the frame of inquiry-based educational environments. Work Package 5 is based on the findings of the theoretical review (Work Package 2), comparative studies (Work Package 3), and in-depth field research (Work Package 4). In addition it has been informed by the involvement of communities of stakeholders – teachers, student teachers, school staff members, teacher educators, researchers, out-of-the box thinkers, policy makers and experts in the field of inquiry, creativity or science – in online and face-to-face focus groups. This document offers teacher education policy makers and institutions a set of curriculum design principles and accompanying conceptual recommendations in order to design and apply curricula that will foster creative approaches to science and mathematics learning in preschool and first years of primary education. Furthermore it offers teacher education institutions a related set of teacher outcomes about what teachers should know and be able to do in order to develop such creative approaches. These can be seen as concrete recommendations for teacher educators and teacher education institutions to frame their sessions, workshops and courses. They are directly linked to the implications for teacher training which arose from deliverables D2.2 Conceptual Framework, D3.2 Report on Mapping and Comparing Recorded Practices, D3.3 Report on First Survey of School Practice and D4.4 Report on Practices and their Implications (see also Figure below).