STEAMsare Basque Country

In the Basque country 37 schools and 21 companies and other partners have joined the STEAMsare programme of the Basque Department of Education. The goal of this programme is to create a network of schools, companies and scientific-technological stakeholders in the Basque country focused on the promotion of STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). 

The Minister of Education, Cristina Uriarte, the Deputy Minister for Education, Maite Alonso, and the Deputy Minister for University and Research, Adolfo Morais, gave presentations at the STEAMsare program press conference. Together with them, Leire Bilbao, Managing Director of the Basque Innobasque-Innovation Agency, was also present, due to this project being developed with other stakeholders in line with other 'STEAM Euskadi Strategy' (Basque STEAM Strategy)-initiatives. 

The STEAMsare programme was inspired by a successful educational approach developed in the Netherlands (and later implemented in Denmark as well as other countries) called Jet-Net.  The main objectives of STEAMsare are to provide students with a realistic, positive and varied image of science and technology education and professions, while at the same time promoting careers in this area. Schools, companies and scientific-technological partners will work together throughout the year, with the help of one of the five partners involved. These are: Basque Innovation Agency (Innobasque), November Foundation, The Machine Tool Institute, Iraurgi Renovations and the Mondragon Corporation.

For more information, please see the full press release via the link above.

On the request of the Swedish Teknikcollege organisation, the Norwegian National Centre for Science Recruitment and the Government of the Basque country a two-day Taskforce Meeting (TM) has been planned for November of this year. The objective of the meeting is to showcase the various aspects of the Dutch-Danish 'Jet-Net'-model for school-company cooperation. The TM will include various presentations / visits by / to the national bureau (Dutch national STEM platform), regional programme coordinators, a leading Jet-Net company (Siemens) and the Dutch ministry of Education (which co-funds the programme). More information on the programme will follow soon. 

In the context of the preparation of the upcoming Basque STEAM Strategy (see related article), the Department of Education of the Basque Country (Spain) as well as the Basque Innovation Agency (InnoBasque) have joined the EU STEM Coalition. For more information about both organisations, please refer to the Members-page.

The Jet-Net&TechNet programme (JNTN) is one of the flagship programmes of the Dutch National STEM platform (PTvT). The programme is focused on increasing STEM uptake in secondary education through one-on-one partnerships between schools and companies. This document provides an overview of activities (including practical case studies) of common JNTN activities.

Young people think about technology in very different ways. The Bèta&TechMentality (BTM) model distinguishes between five types of young people, each of whom we can interest in technology in different ways through education and information. All kinds of factors play a role in this. For example: to what extent are young people already interested in new technology and confident about technological progress? Do young people have the idea that they can take on science and technology and can they improve their skills in this area? In this white paper, we describe the five types in turn and how they can be inspired by education and communication. You can imagine, for example, that "Creative Makers" and "Social Implementers" (two motivation types) find different things appealing in education. The BTM model is based on research among 9 to 17-year-olds from primary education to secondary education (VMBO, HAVO and VWO) in the Netherlands. The research consisted of two phases:

• Qualitative research: 30 exploratory paired interviews with a total of 60 children and young people, carried out by Youngworks. In it, we explored the motives and barriers that determine how young people experience technology. The insights from the qualitative research phase were translated into value propositions about their motives and attitudes toward technology.

• Quantitative research & segmentation: 1,472 children and young people then filled out a questionnaire. Based on their reactions to value propositions and a factor analysis, we determined the seven underlying dimensions of the model. And based on a cluster analysis, we identified five segments. This phase was carried out by Motivaction.

The five Bèta&TechMentality types all score differently on these seven dimensions:

1. Self-confidence in science and technology
2. Confidence in technological progress
3. Interest in new technology
4. Appreciation and respect
5. Social commitment
6. Technology can be learned
7. Practical orientation

For a summary of the key outcomes and student types, please see the white paper via the link below. An translated version of the full 40 page report is also available.

The Basque STEAM strategy was published in June 2018 by the Basque governent's Department of Education. It seeks to develop an education programme focussed on the STEAM (Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) concept. Its three strands of objectives (9 in total) cover the entire education chain, and build on practices in several reference countries, including the USA, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. 

The executive summary can be downloaded via the 'link to source' button above.