After the analysis of the needs of our school, the Erasmus commission of the center developed the key objectives of the Erasmus+ Little STEAMers Project : 1. Developing new didactic programs integrating innovative teaching methods in STEAM, focusing on the Early Childhood Education stage. 2. Expanding the internationalization and improvement of the English language competence of the entire school, beyond specialists in foreign languages, in order to favor the development of the project and its implementation. 3. Developing and strengthening digital teaching competence. 4. Sharing and promoting training experiences with the entire educational community around a common theme such as the new methodologies developed by the 4 C's (Critical thinking; Creativity; Collaboration; Communication). 5. Learning about other realities, developing our critical spirit, expanding our gaze abroad and reinforcing the European dimension among teachers and students, which contributes to its internationalization.
Our school, Salvador Espriu, has been a pioneer center in the area for years, especially for the application of technology in the classroom and in Erasmus+ projects. From an analysis in faculty meetings, it became evident that, referring on training in a foreign language and STEAM, there was a great offer for the older students (3rd Cycle of Primary) but it was scarce for Early Childhood Education and the teachers lacked resources. The main needs that we detected in our school were: - Lack of training in STEAM in Early Childhood Education. - Lack of linguistic competence in English. - Need to expand knowledge in new methodologies and how to apply them in the classroom. - Lack of European mobility of Early Childhood Education teachers. - Lack of connection with European schools of Early Childhood Education. The Erasmus+ Little STEAMers Project intended to fill this gap by offering Early Childhood Education teachers the possibility of: - Taking a training course in English to improve their competence. - Visiting European schools that are also implementing these methodologies. - Receiving the visit of teachers from said schools. - Applying what has been learned in the classroom, creating other projects once the KA101 is finished.