Based on the concept of Circular Education, this initiative takes scientists back to their primary schools to deliver hands-on science workshops for children from their hometowns. Through this initiative students from underserved communities in Portugal create meaningful connections with science and scientists realising that “people like me can be a scientist” and developing positive attitudes towards science and higher education.
National
Portugal
Portugal Mainland and Islands (Azores and Madeira)
Mainly rural
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
Horizon2020 / Horizon Europe
HORIZON-MSCA-2022-CITIZENS-01
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Native Scientists Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Joana Last name of representative: Bordalo Gender: Female Nationality: Portugal Function: Programme Coordinator Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rua Américo Rodrigues Barbosa, 20, 1ºEsq Town: Braga Postal code: 4710-007 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 932 349 985 E-mail:joana.bordalo@nativescientist.com Website:https://www.nativescientist.com/
Scientists Return to School is an initiative that connects children and scientists to increase literacy in science and reduce inequalities. This educational programme is based on the concept of Circular Education and promotes the return of scientists to their own primary schools to implement unique 90-minute-long hands-on science workshops with the students. Through these workshops, scientists and pupils from the same hometown/community are brought together to exchange knowledge and participate in a meaningful learning experience. This initiative thus contributes to creating a more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive environment by transforming local communities through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, and changing the traditional school classroom with an innovative non-formal way of learning based on mutual exchanges of personal stories and STEM knowledge. The initiative exists to broaden the horizons of underserved children, spark their interest in science and reduce inequalities in access to science in Portugal. We are starting small by reaching rural communities first but in the long term, we plan to reach all 4th grade students nationwide, ensuring that no children in Portugal finish primary school without having met a scientist from their hometown.
Circular Education
Meaningful Dialogues
Accessible Science
Sense of Belonging
Inclusive Communities
In terms of environmental sustainability, the key objectives of our initiative are, on the one hand, to have as little environmental impact as possible, and, on the other hand, to promote environmental sustainability consciousness through STEM education. Our team and practices are informed on the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals, namely 11 and 13, which relate to sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, and we take into account the 5 R’s policy. The team of this initiative works remotely and all the initiative is managed digitally using online videoconferencing and project management tools, which means that travel is reduced to the minimum.
When implementing the workshops in loco, public transportation is preferred, air travel is avoided, and providers are chosen conscientiously. Workshop materials like stationary and scientific materials for hands-on activities are carefully selected in order to avoid using disposable, single-use materials, and to prioritise reuse.
Importantly, many of the workshops directly address topics related to sustainability, climate change, environmental pollution, circularity, biodiversity, and also inclusion and access to natural resources. Scientists are encouraged to talk about their work addressing the world’s most pressing challenges and topics. Furthermore, local providers such as photographers and the local press are used, thus enhancing the local economy and reducing the pollution associated with long commutes.
In terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people, the key objectives of our initiative are: (1) that more than 80% of the students participating in the workshop like meeting the scientist from their hometown and learn new scientific concepts, (2) that more than 70% of the students meet a scientist for the first time in their lives, and (3) that teachers and scientists participating in the initiative rate their experience positively and recommend it to their colleagues. Through Scientists Return to School, we expect to positively impact children, create long and impactful memories and emotions related to science and boost children's confidence related to their origins. We expect children to realize that “people like me can be a scientist” and develop positive attitudes towards science. To do this, our workshops aim to transform classes into a unique and attractive moment for children, where science is made beautiful and appealing through visual, interactive, or hands-on experiments. Importantly, the workshop fostering the interaction and meaningful exchange of knowledge between children and scientists is not a stand-alone activity and is part of a programme. The workshop is supported by additional activities including training for the scientists, pre and post-workshops implemented by the teacher using resources specifically designed for them, a gamified tour of all the geographies and scientific disciplines of the participating scientists, and a nationwide contest for the best outputs of the pre-workshop.
Overall, the programme seeks to narrow the gap between the scientific and the educational communities, promoting the feeling that science is important for these children.
Based on the data we collected through our pilot, 73% of the students had never met a scientist prior to the workshop. In the long run, our goal is to make sure that in Portugal no child transits to middle school without ever meeting a scientist.
Both the organisation and the initiative are built on equity, diversity and inclusion values. We know that greater diversity leads to greater results and that representation is key to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion. At an organisational level, our goal is to promote fair and quality science education, to have a diverse team, and to promote decent work conditions. In line with EU policies, we are creating an equity and diversity plan for the organisation and we have a policy to make sure that our activities are always free for students and their families.
In this initiative in particular, we aim to make Portugal the first country in the world where all primary students meet a scientist from their hometown before transitioning to middle school.
Currently, the activities take place in schools that we consider to be of priority intervention, i.e., schools from underserved/underprivileged areas. These schools are: Schools in Areas with Very Low Population Density; Schools with Negative Equity Rates according to data published by the Portuguese Ministry of Education; Schools with High Student Rates in Free School Meals; Schools in the Ultra Peripheral Regions of the EU (Azores and Madeira).
The fact that scientists return to their hometown means that the initiative decentralises science communication and education activities from the urban areas where the scientists typically work and from the science centres, universities or museums where it is often found. In the long run, this initiative’s target audience is truly all children in 4th grade in Portugal, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic status. In the short term, priority is given to the schools listed above.
To ensure viability/financial sustainability we rely on a mix of fees-for-service paid by municipalities or regional governments, private contributions and grants/prizes such as this one that can leverage scalability and accelerate impact.
The citizens benefiting most from this initiative are the students and the scientists. They were and are involved in this initiative from the start, through interviews, all the way to implementation, through workshops, and evaluation, through questionnaires and focus groups. With this initiative, children realise that “people like me can be a scientist” and develop positive attitudes towards science. Scientists have the opportunity to give back to society as they act as role models and receive training in science communication. The teachers and the parents are also involved and impacted, as they are mediators and host the scientist's visit to the school. Other members of the community, such as local photographers and journalists are also indirectly impacted. About this initiative, teachers say “The students like the workshop a lot. The fact that it was implemented by someone who attended this school was an added value” and “The workshop allowed the students to interact with real scientists and manipulate resources that we don’t have at school. It was important for them to understand that no one is born a scientist.”
The initiative fosters the establishment of closer relations between different members of society. Because we evolve the local community in each workshop, unique connections are established between the scientist, the students, the teachers, the municipality and the media. It closes the gap between science (via universities and research institutions) and society (via schools, the municipalities and the local media). Thus, the programme contributes to the creation of solid bridges between the scientific and the school communities, and to the promotion of active and conscious citizenship (through education).
Last year, with the pilot of the programme, we reached 500 primary school students. This year, we will reach 1000+. The goal is to reach all 4th graders on an annual basis. For this, we will need to engage 4% of the scientific community in Portugal.
All stakeholders of this initiative were and are engaged in its design and implementation. To design the initiative, interviews with 5-10 people/entities for each type of stakeholder were arranged. Following design, all stakeholders are kept engaged through regular emails, meetings, questionnaires and/or volunteering. We have a growth mindset, practice co-production as much as possible, and have a collaborative approach. The different stakeholders and their participation is:
Students, the heroes of the initiative. This initiative is for 4th graders and we gather information about them from the teachers. Additionally, we train the scientists to engage students in active and inquiry-based learning.
Scientists, the lifeblood of the initiative. They return to their school to carry out a unique hands-on science workshop with children. Scientists receive training and learn how to best communicate their work and how to organise scientific engagement activities. Importantly, the scientists also receive 1:1 support from experienced science communicators, participate in a focus group at the end of the school year, and receive feedback from the teacher and students.
Higher Education and Research Insitutitions, the dissemination partners. They help us spread the word among their community scientists and, after one of their scientists has participated, they share the initiative more broadly.
Teachers, Schools and Ministry of Education, the key mediators of the interventions. They implement the pre and post-workshop activities and further support students' interest in science.
Municipalities and Regional Governments, the enablers. They are key to paying for the implementation of the programme and engaging local providers.
Children’s families - the key supporting element. Through the pre and post-workshop activities, families are involved and deepen their understanding of what enthuses their child, talk about science at home, and feel closer to science.
This initiative is an entirely new science enrichment programme at the intersection of three fields: Education (especially Science Education), Science (especially Science Communication), and Social Innovation. It is a local initiative with a nationwide ambition where scientists and students from the same hometown are brought together within the school environment to have meaningful dialogues about science.
During the design of the initiative, a multidisciplinary team of six people was established, in which each member of the team had a different academic background (from social entrepreneurship and design to biology and psychology), different levels of higher education, and different participation in society.
Secondly, in our workshops in schools, scientists from any field of expertise (from natural sciences to social sciences and humanities) and any career stage can participate, showcasing how different scientific disciplines play a role in today’s society. The programme further includes a gamified tour where students discover the different disciplines of the scientists that participated in each edition of the programme. For instance, in the pilot edition last year, 15 scientists from all over Portugal mainland and Azores participated in the programme, covering a total of 15 different STEM topics, e.g. vaccines, bacteria, yeasts, robots, cells, tissues, organs, oceans, air, architecture or language.
Thirdly, the organisation behind this initiative is an international organisation with a multidisciplinary and multicultural team. It is in a constant state of intellectual refinement nurtured by specialists from different fields. Because of the intersectionality and interdisciplinarity of the organisation and the initiative, its innovative approach and also the fact that equity, diversity and inclusion values are at the core, the organisation behind the programme is an award-winning organisation and has received in 2022 a prestigious UNESCO Literacy Prize.
There is a growing number of initiatives that promote STEM education but what distinguishes this initiative from others is that it is built on equity, diversity and inclusion values (in many other initiatives this is either absent or is an afterthought), it fosters learning by bringing people (children and scientists) together that have a common cultural and socioeconomic background and using novel and non-formal ways of teaching, and it has a solid long-term vision and financial sustainability plan. In terms of methodology, the innovative character of the initiative has centre stage in three main pillars:
(1) the use of evidence-based education methodologies and training approaches, including the Science Capital and the “Science Capital Teaching Approach”, developed by Prof Dr Louise Archer and colleagues and described below;
(2) the promotion of the new and innovative concept of Circular Education, where scientists return to their own primary schools and give back to their hometowns. That makes the initiative have a strong local/circular approach, but also scalable nationally - we hope one day to offer all children in Portugal, regardless of their geographic and sociocultural context, the possibility of meeting, interacting and learning with a scientist.
(3) decentralise access to science - science is everywhere and not only close to scientific centres and universities. In the first years of the initiative, we start by reaching children from more deprived areas in terms of science enrichment programmes since, as scientists are the ones who go and meet the students in their regular places of learning, no matter where these students are located. We are not waiting for these students or their families to meet the scientists in places they are not familiar with, and, therefore we can more effectively turn vicious cycles into virtuous cycles, where we promote equity by giving access to science education to communities that are greatly lacking these initiatives.
The initiative was launched on September 8, 2021 in rural communities in Portugal, having been implemented in the 2021/22 school year for the first time. 2022/23 will be the second year in which the initiative is implemented and, based on the experience of reaching 500 students in the pilot year in 14 municipalities, for 2023 we want to double the number of students who can learn and interact with a scientist every year. In this way, in the 8th year of the project, we plan to reach all 4th-year students nationwide, ensuring that none of them transitions to the 2nd cycle without having met a fellow scientist.
In the Azores Islands, for instance, the initiative was such a success that from 2021/22 to 2022/23, meeting a scientist from their community will be made possible for all 4th graders from 4 of the 9 islands.
Considering the successful pilot in Portugal, the possibility to roll out the initiative to Spain is being explored. If one considers no budget limitations, it can in theory be replicated in most EU countries.
The initiative is rooted in evidence-based education methodologies and training approaches, which include:
- Science Capital Teaching Approach, developed by Prof Dr Louise Archer and colleagues. In this methodology, students are not seen as an empty vessel that is filled with scientific information. Instead, science is seen as a vehicle to promote social justice. For this to happen, outreach and education programmes need to focus on allowing students to create meaningful connections with science, making it feel useful and relevant.
- Inquiry-based science education, project-based learning, content and language integrated learning, and co-production pedagogical methods. Students learn more/better when they are part of the learning process, when multimodal input is used and when they build upon prior knowledge, skills, and interests. These methodologies allow students to create more close and relevant connections with science and build a humanised picture of what science is. Plus, their contact with science is authentic and generates positive memories, as they are co-creators of their acquired knowledge.
- Circular science/education, a concept borrowed from circular economy highlighting the importance of thinking about the whole lifecycle of a product/service. In this case, circular science/education reflects the idea of going back to our roots and giving back to the community, especially the young generations, thus potentiating virtuous cycles and, more importantly even, helping vicious cycles become virtuous cycles, helping young people to exit situations of poverty and social exclusion.
- Critical pedagogy, where an emphasis is given to identities and human needs, contexts and stories to make the world a better place. A focus is given to students and instructors working together to produce the knowledge, in a holistic educational approach that can be transformative and fosters critical thinking and argumentation.
The initiative is directly contributing to promoting fair and quality science education and reducing inequalities in Portugal (islands included). We are doing this to address three main challenges, namely:
- inequities in children’s access to science
- stereotypes about STEM professionals and gender disparities
- sharp decline in interest in science at the ages 10-12.
By implementing science workshops throughout the Portuguese territory, and mainly in areas with less access to science and science engagement activities, the initiative is guaranteeing access to inclusive, quality and equitable education as we first reach areas considered to be of priority intervention. By demonstrating that every child, regardless of where he/she/they live or is born, can attend Higher Education if they wish so, we are contributing to equal access to the various levels of education, mainly for children and people in more peripheral/rural areas, in situations of greater vulnerability and/or more sensitive socio-economic contexts (the Azores and Madeira Islands are considered ultra peripheral regions of the EU, for example).
Our mission includes breaking stereotypes about scientists (i.e., the idea of a scientist in a white coat and with grey hair), and therefore we contribute to eliminating gender disparities (girls can also be scientists and engineers); and also stereotypes about science (the social sciences, arts and humanities are also areas of scientific knowledge).
Finally, we target 4th-grade students as there is evidence that children's interest in science starts to decline around the age of 10-12 years. We want to take action prior to this decline.
The implementation of the initiative has already involved:
creation of a website where scientists, teachers and municipalities register;
development of a scientist-teacher pairing algorithm;
public dissemination of the project, currently with 550 scientists and 100 interested teachers;
development of training for scientists in science communication to children;
carrying out of a pilot with 15 scientists and 14 municipalities where 500 students participated in the workshops promoted by a scientist from their hometown.
Following this application, the implementation of the initiative will involve:
scientist-teacher-municipality collaborations;
organisation of the scientist's visit to his/her school and the holding of two workshops that day, following a schedule that will involve members of the municipality and the local press;
training of participating scientists in science communication for 4th graders;
provision of personalised support to each scientist to develop workshop contents and materials;
co-production and implementation with teachers of pre- and post-workshop activities;
managing the national contest with outputs from the pre-workshop activities (defining the jury, organising communication activities and awarding, etc.);
production and distribution of the gamified tour (a sticker poster per classroom) with the origins and scientific fields of each edition’s scientists;
management of the initiative through internal meetings and working groups, as well as meetings with partners and potential partners;
monitoring the quality of workshops;
evaluating the impact of the initiative;
dissemination of the initiative and its results through publications in different media including local and national press, social media, and website.
In the year following this application, our goal is to reach all 4th graders in 4 municipalities, a total of 1000 4th graders, and to be ready to scale the initiative so that by 2028 it reaches all 4th-grade students.
