Cheers of joy can be heard in the central square of the School Village of Ilpoinen School in Turku: a group of second graders has successfully built a track where the Sphero Indi robot continues its journey along an infinite figure-eight. The Green STEAM project, promoting sustainability education methods, is in a two-week session at Ilpoinen School.
– We are practicing teamwork and logical problem-solving. At the same time, we are familiarizing ourselves with the basic principles of programming, namely constructing sequences of commands, explains the project coordinator and STEAM teacher Salla Sissonen.
Spaghetti towers, frescoes, and robotics
Sissonen has visited a total of ten primary schools in Turku over the year as part of the Erasmus+ funded Green STEAM project, with more than 100 teachers and 2,000 students participating. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) brings together science and art for sustainability education in schools. The classes focus on practicing fundamental skills for building a sustainable future.
Sissonen mentions that collaborating with teachers in Turku has been easy and enjoyable.
There's a broad smile on the students’ faces: with teamwork, anything can be achieved – nothing is impossible.
– Together, we have inspired students to engage in all sorts of projects: building towers with spaghetti, practicing basic math through a pretend store while creating board games or farm animals from recycled materials. At Pääskyvuori School, we got to draw a large fresco of magnified microscopic images on a wall. And everyone gets excited about robotics, Sissonen says.
Development of STEAM pedagogy in international collaboration
The STEAM teacher circulating in the primary schools of Turku for this academic year is part of a broader international collaboration focused on developing STEAM approaches from the perspective of sustainability education. The project includes the cities of Tallinn in Estonia and Jelgava in Latvia. Additionally, Turku and Tartu Universities, as well as Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, are involved.
– In Turku, active work on building the STEAM network and developing matching pedagogical approaches has been ongoing since 2018, says Katri Lehtinen, project manager for Green STEAM and STEAM Turku projects.
All educational levels in Turku, from early childhood education to secondary education, as well as universities and businesses, participate in STEAM Turku activities.
– In Turku, it has been considered an important objective to strengthen our knowhow in engaging and integrative STEAM pedagogy and build a broad ecosystem of partners around it, which also benefits local business policy. This ecosystem accommodates plenty of interdisciplinary expertise and active initiatives, adds Lehtinen.
Indeed, the activity at the School Village of Ilpoinen School seem to be engaging, integrative and energetic.
"Our infinity loop works too!" exclaims a second grader, and Sissonen crouches down to give the diligent builders a high-five. The robot moves along the figure-eight, goes through a tunnel made from a recycled cardboard box, and climbs the hill built on top of it. There's a broad smile on the students’ faces: with teamwork, anything can be achieved – nothing is impossible.
Image: Mari Lindroos