The Future of Education

Today some raw materials (RMs) have become essential in the manufacturing of common goods and technologies (i.e. mobile phones, computers, automobiles) we use every day. Readily accessible raw materials, such as rare-earth-elements, indium, neodymium, etc., are important to EU industries and allow the transition towards a low-carbon economy [1]. With the future global resource use projected to double by 2030, addressing raw materials through the entire value chain becomes a priority as well as transferring these ideas to youngsters. Some learning paths for pupils from 10 to 18 years old were developed in the framework of an European project, Raw Matters Ambassadors @Schools (RM@Schools) [2], funded by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) since 2016. It aims to increase among youngsters the understanding of how RMs are needed in modern society, and to make careers in RM attractive. Thanks to strategic European Partnership among the three sides of the knowledge triangle (research, education, and business), RM@Schools has developed learning pathways where different educational approaches (such as learning by doing, team working, peer-to-peer, gamification, etc.) are used to foster students’ interest in science and technology, in particular in circular economy and RM-related topics. The pathways are oriented toward a common goal: Students are guided to become Young RM Ambassadors (science communicators) and create a “product” to be communicated outside of the class. By doing this, students develop 21st century learning skills such as creativity, critical thinking, awareness of responsibility and teamwork. The learning pathways have a modular structure: (1) Lesson - introducing the students to relevant content knowledge;  (2) Activity – involvement in experiments with RM-related hand-on kits; (3) Visit – in industry or research center; (4) Create / Communicate – students are asked to communicate their learning by creating a product designed to promote dialogue around a key message that they have learnt; (5) Society – Students are engaged in public events such as science fairs, as well as in presenting their best dissemination products during an annual European Conference [4]. The topics treated in the paths cover the whole RM value chain, from geology to electronic waste management, with a focus on the solutions offered by Science such as the substitution of critical RM in particular applications. Thus, they are strictly connected with research and innovation. As these topics are not part of the background knowledge of pupils of secondary school, the challenges in finding connections with the traditional school curricula and the advantages of including communication actions in the teaching strategy are discussed.

Keywords: Raw Materials, sustainability, Secondary School, cross-curricular learning, lab experiments, communication.

References:
[1] Report on Critical Raw Materials and the Circular Economy,
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/10102/2018/EN/SWD-2018-36-F1-EN-MAIN-PART-2.PDF
[2] http://rmschools.isof.cnr.it/