Frederick University is a member of Fairness in Teaching Erasmus+ project

Frederick University is a member of the Fairness in Teaching (FIT) alliance, a new Erasmus+ project which aims to develop and advance teaching practices between genders using an intersectional and fair approach especially in STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), and give equal opportunities and access to STEM to a diverse range of pupils (boys, girls, less-advantaged audiences, refugees, migrants, etc).

Through the Project, the five partners in Luxemburg, Italy, France and Cyprus aim to create a Competencies Framework for fair teaching in primary and secondary education in a way that this Framework will become a reference in education, and to also develop workshops and training sessions (online as well as face-to-face) for this Framework. Furthermore, they aim to develop a FIT digital platform and ensure access to its content and to develop the FIT Community of Practice as a pillar to guarantee the large transferability of the FIT advanced approach.

For the implementation of the above, Frederick University invites interested stakeholders -primary and secondary schools and teachers, Higher Educational Institutions, NGOs, Vocational Education and Training organisations, municipalities and other related bodies- to join the FIT Community of Practice and use the good practices of the Project, actively participate in the workshops and trainings, and transfer the knowledge on how to teach fair and intersectional to boys and girls, and to disadvantaged groups of children.

“STEM disciplines are the key to rising to current challenges. It’s also estimated that jobs in the future are likely to contain STEM skills. That’s why we are working on developing the tools necessary to ensure that all children have fair access to STEM education. By participating in the Fairness in Teaching Project, we want to contribute to teaching that fosters diversity across these disciplines” says Dr Petroula Mavrikiou, Associate Professor at Frederick University’s Department of Business Administration and head of RIGE-Gender Equality and Inclusion Unit. The RIGE Unit is the Lead Partner for creating, coordinating and facilitating the Community of Practice of the Project and is also co-responsible for both the compilation of the Competencies Framework of fair teaching in STEM and for the development of the FIT training material for teachers.

MDL, the University’s Mobile Devices Laboratory is also involved in the project. The MDL is responsible for the development of the exploitation of the FIT digital assistant Platform and the development of the algorithms that will give the possibility to users to interact by providing recommendations for the teaching materials on the platform.

The Project is coordinated by the Luxemburg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST-Luxemburg), and other partners are Smart Venice (Italy), Women in Digital Initiatives Luxembourg Asbl (WIDE-Luxemburg) and GIP Formation tout au long de la vie (France). The hybrid kick-off meeting took place in Luxemburg on the 12th of January 2022 where all partners shared their vision and inspirations concerning the project.

For more information on the Fairness in Teaching Project and how to become a member of the Community of Practice, please contact Dr Petroula Mavrikiou via email: p.mavrikiou@frederick.ac.cy.