Enhancing STEAM learning in primary and secondary through theatre and drama techniques

"<< Background >>The ambition of the Mimesis project was to propose an innovative approach to the teaching of STEM disciplines, integrating theater and bodily movement as vectors of understanding and motivation. This initiative emerged from the need to enhance the student experience by making scientific learning more playful and interactive, while fostering a deeper understanding of scientific concepts, responding to the need to give children a taste for science from an early age. In particular, this new pedagogical commitment enables creativity, logical thinking and critical reasoning to be explored in a new, artistic and engaging way, combining humanities and sciences in a concrete proposal for a ""STEAM"" approach. By offering multi-sensory learning, theater enables students to experience scientific concepts through movement, expression and interaction. Students benefit from a deep immersion that engages their memory on multiple levels, fostering lasting understanding. This active, participatory approach contrasts with more passive methods, where the student is simply a receiver of information.<< Objectives >>The main aim of the Mimesis project was to transform the learning experience of learners in scientific disciplines by integrating play techniques and theatrical and body movement practices. Based on these innovative approaches, the project aimed to stimulate students' intrinsic motivation, foster a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and promote the development of key 21st century skills such as creativity, communication and collaboration. In addition, the project was committed to providing teachers and educators with practical methods and tools for designing and delivering operationally theater-based science lessons, as well as contributing to the development of the STEAM approach by adding arts and body movement elements to science and technology learning. Finally, the project sought to promote an inclusive approach to STEM education using theater and active learning pedagogy, making education accessible to a wide range of learners.<< Implementation >>To achieve its objectives, the Mimesis project implemented a range of complementary activities. A complete set of teaching sequences using theater, body movements and playful design techniques in scientific learning was developed and put into practice through several workshops bringing together teachers, educators and children. These activities were designed to stimulate creativity, spontaneity, intuition and active listening. Several detailed framework sheets were drawn up for teachers and educators, providing a methodological guide to integrating theatrical techniques into science teaching. Tutorials were filmed to explore in greater depth the teaching and theatrical resources and approaches proposed in the project. All these activities were supported by communication, dissemination and diffusion actions with our target audiences, including face-to-face workshops, impact analyses through several questionnaires administered to participants, as well as meetings and discussions to ensure the transferability of the Mimesis approach.<< Results >>The project's achievements are made up of several deliverables. We created 8 educational sequences for an interactive approach to science, structured in 28 acts. Each act is equivalent to an exploratory activity on the subject, using a specific theatrical technique. We've created a handbook for teachers and educators, divided into 12 framework sheets covering the challenges of STEM education, the benefits of playful learning, key 21st century skills, integrating theater into STEAM, the theatrical techniques used in Mimesis, 7 suggestions for combining Mimesis activities with a specific STEM theme (space, the human body, microorganisms ... ), an FAQ, tips for adapting Mimesis to various environments (schools, theater classes, museums ...), examples of successful implementations, and 1 script dedicated to the development of a Mimesis play. We have also created 8 video tutorials to explore these themes in greater depth. Finally, we delivered an impact study conducted among our participants, demonstrating the project's contribution to collaborative and intercultural learning, and the development of key skills."