Fundamentally, we wanted to build teacher capacity in STEAM teaching and learning in the consortium schools. We wanted to engage teachers across schools through their mutual interest in STEAM teaching and learning methodologies with a view to enabling them to develop and extend their own steam practices. We also wanted them to be able to encourage and enthuse their school colleagues to engage in STEAM activities so that there would be a possibility of develping whole school engagement in STEAM learning. Through their engagement in this project it was hoped that the participating teachers would develop the interest and skills to be able to talk confidently to thier colleagues about STEAM and also to be able to coach and mentor their colleagues in the use of STEAM as an active and collaboarative methodology. In addition, it was hoped to identify a number of teachers from within the consortium schools who could work with Clare Education Centre to design and deliver professional development courses for teachers. A futher percieved benefit was the hope that a number of the schools in the consortium would develop close working relationships and collaborate in clusters to work on interschool STEAM projects through Creative Clusters
Clare Education Centre has a strong tradition in providing steam education and professional development for schools in the region. This project provided an opportunity to engage in further professional development activities and to provide collaborative forums for discussions among the participating teachers in the consortium schools. The project provided an opportunity to build upon the work which was already in hand at the Education Centre and also to strengthen the connections between Clare Education Centre and the teachers who are participating in STEAM initiatives. Further, the project seemed an ideal vehicle to extend the learning from the STEAMING KA201 Erasmus project and to try to engage a broader range of schools with the intellectual outputs from that project.