Programme / PERFORM - Promoting Science Education through the Arts

UNESCO as part of the PERFORM consortium is in charge of the sustainability of this European Commission extra budgetary project. We are committed to promoting PERFORM at World Science Forum, which is an appropriate venue to discuss the programme. PERFORM aims to investigate the effects of the use of innovative science education methods based on performing arts in fostering young peoples’ motivations and engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in secondary schools in France, Spain and the United Kingdom. PERFORM takes action to overcome the remaining distance between young people and science and break the outdated unidirectional model of scientific knowledge transfer. The project explores a creative, participatory educational process through the use of scenic arts with secondary school students, their teachers and early career researchers, who get actively involved in experiencing science in a completely new way. We work with multi-disciplinary cohorts of researchers in a reflective process, exploring the history of scientific ethics and philosophy, responsible research and innovation, communication and engagement skills. Researchers are taken on a journey from theory to practice, engaging them in continuous reflection on their experience in the context of their lives as scientists. PERFORM analyses how such human-centred, science-arts educational approach contributes to foster young people’s motivations towards science learning (especially girls) and strengthen the transversal competences they will need for STEM careers and jobs. PERFORM works through UNESCO to translate the research results into policy briefs to Member States for widespread policy adoption beyond the three pilot countries. The PERFORM special session at World Science Forum will present to the audience PERFORM in action and discuss early results of PERFORM two years following initial implementation. www.perform-research.eu