Excellent ideas for STEM lessons

Between 29 September and 1 October, around 180 participants and guests were able to experience how creative, diverse and integrative STEM teaching can be at the National Science on Stage Festival at the University of Bayreuth, the largest educational festival for STEM teachers in Germany. Teachers from all types of schools had the opportunity to exchange ideas and gain inspiration for their lessons at an education market, in workshops and short lectures.

Offering teachers a platform and valuing their valuable work is one of the main concerns of the organiser, Science on Stage Germany. The non-profit association has been organising the educational festivals regularly since 2012. In her video address at the beginning of the festival, the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, also praised the commitment of the association and the dedication of the teachers: "What you exemplify is best practice for schools and real equality of opportunity. So thank you very much for that. Science on Stage is like a booster for your ideas: Teachers become team players, network, develop new exciting projects and design teaching materials together. This is exactly the right approach, because it can make teaching in the STEM subjects even more attractive.

From Bayreuth to Turku: the German delegation for the European Education Festival.

Numerous teaching projects developed by teachers, all of which stood out for their wealth of ideas in areas such as sustainability, diversity or digital technologies, were presented at the festival. Eleven of the projects particularly impressed the expert jury: they were selected to represent Germany at the European Science on Stage Festival, which will take place next year in Turku, Finland. The teachers behind the projects come from Berlin, Bavaria, Bremen, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, Lower Saxony and Hesse, and their projects on topics such as "taking pictures with a pinhole camera" and "building a snail's shell" show the wide range that STEM education can offer. In August 2024, this German delegation will then meet around 450 STEM teachers from 34 other countries at the European Science on Stage Festival, who have also qualified with their project ideas via national events. The European Festival is under the patronage of Li Andersson, Minister of Education in Finland.