Sweden is the 9th country to join Native Schools’ family

The first Native Schools workshop in Sweden took place in June.

The Kattegat High School in Halmstad, a city in southern Sweden, hosted their first German workshop last month. Students 16 to 17 years old who learn German at school as a third language (after Swedish and English) had the chance to hear about various topics, from physics to biology to material science, from three German-speaking scientists.

Dr Rebekka Steffen, Native’s Project Manager for German in Sweden and researcher at Lantmäteriet (The Swedish Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authority), highlighted how “speaking more than just one language is an important skill to develop, and I’m happy to be able to speak about science with students who learn a second or third language. The students have the chance to meet real scientists, learn cool stuff and use the new language in a completely different setting compared to normal lessons.”

The workshop was held online, a new format that Native Scientist has adopted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and which was successfully used in several countries during the last year. O., one of the students, said, “after a year of online school, it wasn’t that strange to have Native Scientist online. It was fun, and I look forward to having it also in real life”.

Impressions from scientists and teachers

Anna Ravensburg, a scientist studying magnetic materials: “the combination of talking in a foreign language as well as getting to know a scientist and learning about his/her [sic] research was exciting both for me and the kids. I enjoyed the workshop a lot, and I can just recommend it to other “native scientists”. I would be happy to participate again.”

Moritz Hirsbrunner, a scientist studying how batteries work: “this was something I don’t get to do normally, especially not in a language that the students are still learning. I am confident the students learned something new both in science and in the German language, and hopefully (and most importantly) they had fun. I really enjoyed the workshop, and I would love to participate again in one in the future.”

Jessica, one of the teachers: “participating in the workshop was an interactive and engaging experience for my students. They learned new words connected to the scientists’ presentations and were invited to ask questions. Listening to, understanding and speaking to a “native scientist” motivates the students to learn the language even more on a whole new level than traditional lessons might do.”

About Native Scientist

Native Scientist is an award-winning European-wide non-profit organisation that promotes cultural diversity in science, education and society. Native Scientist provides science and language workshops, science communication training, and bespoke projects for various institutions, including schools, universities and embassies. The work developed connects pupils with scientists to foster science and language literacy through role modelling and science and language integrated learning. Founded in 2013, their work reaches over 1,200 pupils a year and they count with a network of over 1,000 international scientists.