'Playing with Protons': A training course for primary school teachers at CERN

Abstract

In recent years the realisation that children make decisions and choices about subjects they like in primary school became widely accepted. The role of the primary school teacher as the main ambassador for a subject is therefore crucial in inspiring and enthusing the younger generation towards STEM. However, in most European countries, primary school teachers do not necessarily have good content knowledge in STEM subjects including physics as this is not a requirement. Many teachers stopped studying physics at the core level in high school. This puts in perspective the problems a teacher might encounter when trying to share new physics ideas in the classroom. A new and innovative training course started at CERN in 2016 under the name 'Playing with Protons' with the aim to inspire, educate and empower primary school teachers towards modern physics, scientific discovery and innovation.