How teachers manage to awaken curiosity and a spirit of enquiry in their pupils in science lessons is to be more firmly anchored in teacher training in Oldenburg. To this end, the university will be cooperating in future with the association Forscherbambini e.V., which acts as the local network of the nationwide educational initiative "Haus der kleinen Forscher" (Little Scientists' House) in Oldenburg.
Prof Dr Yvonne Gabriele Ehrenspeck-Kolasa and Privatdozentin Dr Ines Oldenburg from the Institute of Educational Sciences will be working closely with the non-profit educational initiative, half of which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and is under the patronage of Minister Prof Dr Johanna Wanka.
The co-operation between the university and the "Haus der kleinen Forscher" initiative essentially pursues one goal: to make it easier for children to make the transition from kindergarten to primary school by building on the spirit of research sparked in the daycare centres. For this to work, nursery teachers and teachers need to agree on a common basis. "In future, joint workshops with Oldenburg nursery school teachers are to be made possible as a pilot project in the primary school teacher training programme," explains Ines Oldenburg. In the "Sachunterricht" learning workshop, the teachers will work together to consider how kindergarten and primary school children can conduct age-appropriate research and develop specific ideas, for example experiments on the topics of acoustics and water.
As primary school teachers are allowed to teach all subjects, the workshops are open to all prospective primary school teachers - regardless of which combination of subjects they are studying. "In this way, we want to take away our prospective teachers' fear of scientific or technical subjects," says Oldenburg. The co-operation with the "Haus der kleinen Forscher" also offers prospective teachers a very practical benefit: They get direct access to its supporting materials. In addition, the Forscherbambini association has acquired special technology boxes with the help of the Northwest Metal Industry Foundation. The children can use them, for example, to work on the topic of energy and build wind turbines and solar-powered vehicles.
The co-operation between the university and Forscherbambini e.V. was officially sealed today by its patron Stephan Albani. The Member of the Bundestag, who is also Managing Director of Oldenburg's "Haus des Hörens", presented representatives of the university with a partner plaque. Together with the association's chairwomen Dr Beate Grünberg and Isabell Sproß, he expressed his conviction that this would give children in the region better educational opportunities. After all, research and experimentation not only promotes interest in science, maths and technology, but also strengthens other basic skills such as language and social skills, solution-orientated action and confidence in one's own abilities.
The non-profit foundation "Haus der kleinen Forscher" has been committed to improving the education of children of nursery and primary school age in science, maths and technology since 2006. With a nationwide training programme, the "Haus der kleinen Forscher" supports educational subjects and teachers in encouraging the spirit of discovery in girls and boys and providing them with qualified research support. The educational initiative thus makes an important contribution to promoting educational opportunities, professionalising educational staff and securing the next generation of STEM specialists. In the Oldenburg area, almost every second daycare centre takes advantage of the "Haus der kleinen Forscher" education initiative.
