Educating the educators: international approaches to scaling-up professional development in mathematics and science education. Proceedings of the conference hosted jointly by project mascil (mathematics and science for life) and the German Centre for Mathematics Education (DZLM), 15 -16 December 201

Teachers are the decisive factors in ensuring the achievement of creative and sustainable learning outcomes in mathematics and science education, in fostering young peoplesÂ’ competences and enabling them to become critically thinking, responsible and active citizens. Teacher professional development(PD) is the key to effecting change in mathematics and science education throughout Europe. Whilst the relevance of teacher PD is beyond dispute, there is still too little knowledge about how to scale-up professional development successfully and sustainably. Initiating discourse and leveraging international exchange about concepts and experiences concerning this essential topic were the main aims of the conference ‘Educating the Educators – International approaches to scaling-up professional development in mathematics and science educationÂ’, which took place in December 2014 in Essen, Germany. The conference … brought together researchers and practitioners: teacher educators, multipliers and teachers who are all engaged in the field of maths and science education. This volume reflects participantsÂ’ conference experiences. Further, [the editors] provide here background information and aims of the conference issue, as well as conference conclusions and an outlook on future needs and trends. The papers relate to four conference tracks, each addressing a different approach to scaling-up professional development in maths and science education: 1. Scaling-up with multipliers in face-to-face professional development courses; 2. Blended learning concepts and e-learning support; 3. Disseminating and scaling-up through materials; 4. Professional learning communities.