On Thursday 21 January 2016, partners from the fields of education, research and higher education signed a cooperation agreement, SciTeach Center, which will aim to strengthen training for teachers of the natural sciences in primary schools.
As part of the SciTeach Center project, a new resource centre has been established at the Maison du Savoir of the University of Luxembourg in Belval as a means of increasing the importance attributed to the education of the natural sciences. Teachers in this field can receive training, as well as borrow teaching materials for their classes.
"Luxembourg has invested a lot in the fields of research and innovation over the course of recent years," commented Marc Schiltz, Secretary General of the National Research Fund (FNR), one of the agreement signatories. The FNR initiated the project and will be the main sponsor of the pilot phase which will be spread over three years. "This is an investment in our future and it is essential to inspire future generations in these areas. That is why we want to increase the importance attached to natural sciences in primary education."
He continued: "Many primary school teachers have had very little contact with the natural sciences during their training. That's why we had the idea to broaden the supply of initial and continuous training."
"We are pleased to offer teachers useful paedogogical concepts for teaching natural science, and at two levels: for beginners as well as advanced," commented Camille Peping, Director of the National Education Training Insitute (IFEN) which will recognise and support the courses.
The University of Luxembourg for its part has already been active for several years in teacher training in the natural sciences.
"This long-term project allows us to recruit a scientific collaborator for an indefinite duration," explained Georg Mein, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Univdersity of Luxembourg. "They will lead the traning in accordance with state of the art and develop the resource centre together with a technician. Our goal is to provide teachers with a training base and quality service."
In order to ensure a direct link with the school, the Research Coordination and Teaching and Technological Innovation Service (SCRIPT) will provide tow primary school teachers to help develop the training.
"The scientific staff of the University will be able to benefit from the practical experience of teachers," commented Luc Weis, Director of SCRIPT. "For their part, the teachers will certainly benefit from new knowledge and will be able to make interesting contacts."
"Our goal is to establish Luxembourg as a renowned international research site," added Deputy Minister for Higher Education and Research, Marc Hansen. "This involves an awareness from an early age of the spirit of research and the importance of the sciences. That is why both the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Research are supporting this initiative, which will allow primary school teachers - and consequently also their pupils - to have easier access to the natural sciences."
Through the SciTeach project, each partner will occupy themselves with their respective roles: the FNR promoting scientific culture in Luxembourg; the University sharing its teaching and scientific expertise; and SCRIPT and IFEN helping to improve the quality of teaching in the natural sciences through the integration of pedagogical research in education and continued training.
Photo by FNR (L-R: Marc Schiltz, Secretary-General of the FNR, Marc Hansen, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Research; Georg Mein, Dean, University of Luxembourg; Luc Weis, Director of SCRIPT)
