The University Of Ioannina (UOI) participated with a keynote, two symposia, paper presentations and 4 posters to the 12th Panhellenic Conference on Science in Early Childhood Education which took place on 4, 5 & 6 November 2022 in Florina, Greece

The thematic sections of the conference concerned various domains such as Curricula and Science, Non-formal learning environments for Science, Interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary approaches in Science Education, STE(A)M education and educational robotics, Teacher education, Research in science education, Ideas and precursors of learners’ mental models of scientific concepts and natural phenomena, Design, develop and evaluate teaching/learning activities and sequences, Science and Sustainability etc.

Within this frame, the 21ts teaching skills project was presented offering the opportunity for interaction and discussion about the 21ts teaching skills that can be incorporated in the different disciplines connected with the conference. Furthermore, presentations form UOI connected with STEAM Education, portable learning and augmented reality for education provided examples and practices of the skills of the 21^st century for both teachers and students.

How do we enable school system to experience paradigm shift from despair to hope and disability to
special ability? Many a teacher or parent must experience challenges and migraine with those kids
who refuse to settle and are always active. Many complain about children who struggle with or misfit
into multi-subject syllabi. Some score a full in math and fail in languages, for example. A few are
excluded from mainstream because they love sports or art or music but take least interest in rote
learning or sitting loyally in the seat. These get excluded and are the nightmare of parents of children
when it comes to readying for examination or 100 per cent school results. How are they addressed?
Do they leave school and later emerge as actors or drivers or camera persons or skilled workers? How
do they view themselves in comparison to their PhD holder friends or those who court mainstream
success? Educational democracy and demography thus experience a seismic shock. Amid this, a silent
revolution has sprung from a compassionate, inclusive liberal experience of Kaveri Group under Pune
Kannada Sangha in the state of Maharashtra, India.

A backdrop of 21^st Century skills education in India

21st century with digital living has provided extra ordinary opportunity and tools with innovation in
the core. All-inclusiveness, disruption and diversity are the new mantras. Gearing up for a new global
role, India is witnessing diverse educational innovation, often undocumented or unsung. India has
rising number of global schools under IB or Cambridge boards. On the other hand, about 95 per cent
of Indian schools have vernacular medium education in majority with a mix of English medium. Based
on socio economic affordability, parents opt for these variety of schools under the provincial and
central boards. Other than the Central board, under new education policy drive of government of
India, no handbook or initiative on structured 21st century skills exist as of now. This handbook can be
expanded and modified customised to Indian reality. Gifted education is one such pleasant and perfect
modification.

The Kaveri Gifted Education approach

Such promise for the precious exists in Kaveri experiment. Based on sound research and concept in
Education and psychology, the idea of ‘Gifted Education’ has taken shape in 2014, under the patronage
of Pune Kannada Sangha mentored by Dr RA Mashelkar, an eminent scientist. It culminated in an all-encompassing model with an inclusive gifted program for the multi-talented, high ability ‘gifted
children’ who approximately compose 3 to 5 per cent of a given student population. Woven around
the shared care of school, home and society, talent profile is nurtured after developing ‘whole’
understanding of the child. After assessing the potential of the child, identifying vulnerabilities,
appropriate intervention strategies and guidance are rendered to the child as well as the parent.

You can see the PDF here

The SOLIS Project was presented in a three-day scientific conference (20-22 November 2022), organized by the University of Ioannina with the participation of a United Nation representative, the local authorities, administrative members from the Institute of the Educational Policy, academics, university students and citizens of Ioannina.

The overall strategy of the Interreg IPA CBC Programme “Greece – Albania 2014 – 2020” is to find the balance between sustainable regional development and enhancement of cross-border cooperation among local population and regional institutions, in accordance with EU and national policies, in order to address common challenges through joint interventions.

The main theme of the Scientific Conference SOLIS was: "Cross-border cooperation for energy efficiency using solar energy" with emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainable development. Within this frame, skills such as critical thinking, communication and collaboration, civic, health and environmental literacy and media technology skills were developed through the different activities and workshops during the conference.

 Presentations during the conference

Workshops on energy efficiency toolkit

20/10/2022

After a very fruitful 5 days of the 2^nd Study Visit of 21^st TS in India, we would like to take some time to express our gratitude towards everyone that helped organise and conduct the activities. Also, we would like to give special thanks to Symbiosis Law School for hosting the study visit and setting up the 21^st Teach Skills Lab at its institute in Viman Nagar.

All project partners and university leaders from the partner organizations contributed to the study visit in order to carry forward the concept of 21^st Century Skills that is key for creating an impact on the education system of the project’s Asian partner countries - India, China and Cambodia.

Overall, the activities organized had more than 100 participants every day that were trained and took part in the pilot testing of the modules developed. The study visit also included cultural showcasing at Pune, had a great appeal and was covered by multiple media sources that can be found in the attachment below.

Lastly, this was our second initiative that helped us ease our way into achieving our consortium’s objectives and goals - integrating the 21^st century skills in the teachers’ educational programs, for the teachers to be effective in today’s society.

We should of course not forget that all the above would not have been possible without the tired-less efforts of both Prof. Katerina Plakitsi from University of Ioannina and Prof. Dr. Rajani Gupte from Symbiosis International University.

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