Schools in several European countries frequently fail to provide both excellence and equity in mathematics teaching: more than 20% of European students do not reach a minimum level of basic skills in mathematics; only 2%-3% of them reach the highest level of proficiency; and large variations in achievement exist among students within schools, indicating that schools fail to create equitable learning environments for their students (OECD, 2016). Supporting teachers to combat this challenge requires that teachers be afforded curriculum materials that provide specific support and solid guidelines to teach for excellence and equity, as well as professional development (PD) on how to do so.Responding to this dual need, the main goal of the EDUCATE project was to develop, implement, validate, and refine materials for teachers and teacher educators (TEs) that address issues of cognitive activation (CA) and differentiation (DI) in an integrated manner –which was missing from past work attending to either excellence or equity. More crucially, the project aimed at educating teachers to use these materials by engaging them in guided reflection around their practice and to scaffold TEs to offer solid guidance to teachers in doing so.Working in four EU countries (Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal) to minimize context dependencies and ensure the transferability of the materials produced, the project unfolded in four phases. In the first, EU/(inter)national policy documents on excellence and equity were reviewed, as well as prior studies on teachers’ needs and challenges when having to teach for both goals. This top-down approach was complemented by a bottom-up approach involving 66 lesson observations of a maximum variation sample of 33 prospective and practising primary or secondary teachers and 66 pre- and post-lesson interviews with them to identify their actual and perceived needs and challenges when having to engage all their students in challenging tasks. In the second phase, building on this needs-assessment analysis, we developed five modules for teachers and five associated modules for TEs, which aimed at helping them effectively deal with the most crucial challenges identified. After being content-validated and pilot-tested, these modules were implemented with 76 primary and secondary teachers (20 prospective and 56 practicing) working in different school settings (including underserved areas). During this third phase, recruited teachers worked in video-club settings through iterative cycles of experimentation with the EDUCATE materials and reflection upon their practice, facilitated by 16 TEs. TE logs (N=96) and teacher reflection cards (N=401), providing feedback on the implementation of the EDUCATE packages, were completed at the end of each video-club session and were used formatively to inform and refine the PD approach offered. In the fourth phase, we examined the effectiveness of the EDUCATE materials and PD approach. Specifically, the videotaped lessons were coded using an observation rubric developed in the third phase, which comprised a set of 35 phase-level and 10 lesson-level codes related to CA, DI and their interplay. By using linear growth models, we explored changes in the instructional quality in the 201 teachers’ videotaped lessons. Written memos of the videotaped video-club meetings (N=107) and end-of-project teacher/focus group interviews (N=76) were analysed following a phenomenological approach and constant comparative method to investigate participants’ experiences, (re)conceptualisations of CA and DI, and enduring challenges. The project culminated by revising the EDUCATE materials based on the lessons learned from this examination and by producing an e-learning course for teachers and TEs, which is hosted on the EDUCATE platform.The key EDUCATE results pertained to (a) producing a validated, effective, and transferable series of self-contained modules for teachers and their accompanying modules for TEs that concurrently attend to CA and DI; (b) identifying what is feasible to expect from teachers at different educational levels (primary vs. secondary) and career stages (prospective vs. practising)—as suggested by the statistically significant changes identified in aspects of teachers’ practice; (c) surfacing ways in which the modules produced and the adopted PD approach scaffolded teachers’ thinking and work around CA and DI; and (d) identifying challenges that teachers encounter as they currently work at both fronts.The project also raised awareness among different policy makers, stakeholders and researchers about the importance of attending to both CA and DI. Because the EDUCATE outputs are open-access and disseminated through several venues, such as the EDUCATE platform (educate-platform.com/) and website (www.ucy.ac.cy/educate/en/), the impact of the project on TEs, teachers, and foremost students—the ultimate recipients of high-quality instruction—is expected to be long term.

COSMOS (Creating Organisational Structures for Meaningful science education through Open Schooling for all) uses socio-scientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL) as a pedagogical means for opening up schools to their communities through a transformation process, aiming to create new partnerships within communities that can foster science education for all citizens, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or cultural background. To transform and open schools from an 'inwards' to an 'outwards' mode of engagement in, with and for their communities, our open schooling approach is unique in combining key pivotal elements of innovative constructivist pedagogy, teacher education, and transforming school organisational culture. We will (a) establish Core ORganisational structures for Promoting Open Schooling (CORPOS) in primary and secondary schools to facilitate community engagement. CORPOS will (b) support the creation of Communities of Practice (CoP), which include non-formal and informal education providers, enterprises, families, other stakeholders. The CoP will engage in SSIBL focusing on relevant socio-scientific issues, ensure engagement of all societal actors, and create significant life experiences, enhancing students' interest in science and science careers. We will (c) ensure the viability and sustainability of open schools by working closely with science teachers, stakeholders and school leadership, offering teacher professional development, supporting networking and collaboration and capacity building. The COSMOS consortium (12 partners, 7 countries) provides transdisciplinary cooperation and expertise in non-formal and formal science education, science teacher education, educational organisation and leadership, and strong societal links within communities, all of which warrant the successful implementation of COSMOS. The resulting tools, policy briefs and roadmaps will be used by schools across Europe further impacting communities through science education.

The ContinueUP project addresses the question how more, and more effective teacher education and training can be offered to teachers across the continuum of initial and continuous teacher education and training. It achieves this by piloting processes and outputs at initial teacher education (ITE) and continuous professional development (CPD) level which on the one hand develop teachers’ capacity to benefit from online training opportunities, and on the other hand reduce barriers to take-up such opportunities. The project establishes a network of ITE and CPD providers that will co-construct and deliver an education and training programme across the continuum of ITE and CPD. The programme consists of an ITE module and a CPD MOOC which are both addressing teachers’ use of digital tools for professional engagement. The delivery of the module will be implemented jointly, allowing student teachers from different countries to study together. Student teachers are then encouraged to continue their learning by following the MOOC. By participating in the ITE module, student teachers will be better prepared to participate in and continue their learning through online and blended learning formats once they enter the profession. In-service teachers will benefit by developing their capacity to engage in more advanced online mobility activities and CPD opportunities. The co-construction process used for the development and delivery of the education and training programme also introduces mobility experiences to teacher educators and trainers, for them to be able to better promote such experiences amongst teachers. The co-construction process also aims to increase the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of developing new teacher education and training programmes. Furthermore, the project will pilot processes that can lead to the formal recognition of teacher CPD MOOCs, gaining valuable insights how to address barriers for the take-up of non-formal online learning formats by teachers.

Teachers play a key role in preparing future generations of transversally skilled people and are thus pivotal in the context of green and digital transitions. Despite this, teachers report a lack of professional development opportunities, esp. related to digital skills, mobility, and peer mentoring. The goal of acaSTEMy is to develop a systemic support structure for high-quality, research-based STEM teacher education from pre-service education to continuing professional development (CPD) that includes mobility as an essential building block. The project envisions transversally competent and motivated STEM teachers who are well equipped to prepare their students for future careers, the nature of which is difficult to foresee. Building on numerous previous activities of acaSTEMy partners, the focus of the project is to: (1) develop, pilot and promote various distance and blended learning models in combination with international mobility and mentorship; (2) improve STEM teachers’ digital competences for meaningful pedagogies; (3) support the competences and pedagogies of STEM teachers for sustainable and up-to-date education by developing CPD courses to address major challenges, such as environmental sustainability, green deal, global health and immigration as well as methodological aspects, such as teaching diverse classes, combating science anxiety, and fostering gender-sensitive teaching. AcaSTEMy’s bottom-up alliance brings together providers of pre- and in-service teacher education, as well as practice schools from eight (8) countries to develop and test mobility models and programmes for effective and accessible professional learning. In addition, the partnership network includes STEM teacher associations, ministries of education and Academies of Sciences to provide input for developing a policy framework for purposeful and systematic teacher mobility and to inform broader science education policies at national and European levels.