New European Bauhaus Education Champions 2023

Native Scientists fosters scientific literacy, multilingualism, and a sense of belonging amongst migrant pupils in Europe. These students – approximately 5.4 million – are in disadvantage in relation to their peers, not only because they underperform academically, but also because they show higher risk of feeling alienated from the surrounding community and society. This risk increases if the language they speak at home is different from the one used at school and in the country at large. Our initiative tackles these issues by organising science workshops that connect scientists and students from the same migrant community. International professionals from STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) provide hands-on scientific activities to migrant children while speaking the same native language (LANG). These workshops, based on a novel concept that is centred in STEMM+LANG, complement the school programmes in the usage and teaching of the home language, as well as of scientific concepts, promoting scientific and language literacy. This innovative format that connects pupils with socially and culturally relevant role models, makes language classes unique and attractive. Furthermore, these workshops implement a relational approach: by drawing upon a sense of shared history, culture and community, they make science a part of meaningful connections. Founded in 2013 in the UK, Native Scientists has organised 200+ workshops in 13 different languages, with 20,000+ migrant pupils in 12 European countries. Our organisation relies on a network of 3000+ international STEMM educators and role models, who encourage ethnic minority pupils to use and develop their heritage language while learning about new scientific concepts. Evaluation of our programme’s long-term impact shows that 3 out of 4 students learnt five or more new words during a workshop, and 2 out of 3 pupils feel prouder of speaking more than one language.