Last week, the inaugural meeting of the EU-funded PLATON (Promoting innovative Learning Approaches for the Teaching Of Natural sciences) project took place at Parque Biológico de Gaia, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. PLATON aims to offer an open and innovative training framework to teachers of primary and secondary education.

Science education in today’s school curriculum is faced with lack of relevance between what is taught in school and everyday life and no room for practical implementation. Addressing these issues and more, PLATON project aims to strengthen the profile of the teaching profession by providing teachers with the necessary training that will allow them to master the use of inquiry learning in their everyday teaching and the necessary tools for involving their students in interdisciplinary activities where meaningful learning occurs as they consciously and explicitly link their new knowledge to an existing knowledge structure.

The project is a collaboration of partners from 6 European countries that consist of: NUCLIO (Portugal), Ellinogermaniki Agogi (Greece), University of Cyprus (Cyprus), University of Deusto (Spain), University of Helsinki (Finland) and the Faulkes Telescope Project based at Cardiff University (UK). Partners will work towards strengthening the profile of the teaching profession by supporting the meaningful collaboration between teachers and by enhancing their current teaching practices, making them more effective and better tailored to the needs of students.

For more information, have a look at the PLATON website or contact Fraser at fraser.lewis <at> faulkes-telescope.com