Gown on or off? UvA professors visit Amsterdam elementary schools
On Friday morning, six UvA professors biked to Amsterdam elementary schools to teach a lesson. Could that plant a seed for scientific research? Are you the owners of the Harry Potter school?
After a brief discussion, four professors take gowns out of their bicycle bags in front of the schoolyard of the 5th Montessori School in Watergraafsmeer. A passerby is eager to take a picture. A school class crossing the street also shows interest. Who are they? “Lawyers,” shouts one child. “Four wise owls,” thinks another. And then: “Owners of the Harry Potter school!”
This year, the UvA is participating for the first time in the Meet the Professor initiative. Six scientists, each from a different faculty, biked to Amsterdam elementary schools on Friday morning, May 24th, to teach a lesson, an event that has been a custom at universities in Nijmegen, Utrecht, Leiden, and Delft for several years.
A scientist who arrives by bike to talk about research in an approachable way can help reduce the distance between science and society, is the thought. And break the stereotype of the scientist as an old white man in a lab coat, thus contributing to social equality. But to what extent is there scientific evidence for this?
Enthusiasm for science
“We don't yet know exactly what the effects of Meet the Professor are,” says initiator Bart Groeneveld of Wetenschapsknooppunt Amsterdam, who organized the event from the FNWI. “But what has been researched is that you have to introduce children to science and technology in a positive way before the age of 10 or 11 because otherwise they seem to lose interest in the subject.” So since 2003, the government has organized many programs to bring science and technology into the classroom.
Those programs are not always taught by teachers who themselves are interested in them, Groeneveld says. “At the PABO (Dutch teacher training college), there are very few students with a Nature & Health (N&G) or Nature and Technology (N&T) profile. So a teacher often has a hard time conveying enthusiasm for science education.” But a scientist in front of the class can.
The class visited by computer science professor Paola Grosso has been looking forward to the arrival of “the professor” for weeks. When asked who would like to get a cup of tea for Grosso, all the kids raise their hands. They are also well prepared for her questions, because prior to her visit, the students from grades 6, 7, and 8 were already taught about how science and the Internet works.
Doing science themselves
But can such a lesson inspire children to pursue scientific careers? That depends on how the lesson is taught, according to educator and president of De Jonge Akademie (DJA), Eddie Brummelman. From DJA, he set up the Lil'Scientist programme with the aim of getting young children in underprivileged neighbourhoods to do real science.
“Many existing science communication initiatives consist mainly of an information download from the scientist to the child, without addressing children’s curiosity and inquisitiveness,” Brummelman says. “I am thrilled that scientists are becoming more outward-looking. That’s why it’s good to keep thinking about how best to do that.”
According to Brummelman, it makes sense to emphasize science as an action rather than an identity. Research shows that statements about being a scientist can be discouraging to children, especially those from groups that are underrepresented in science.
Brummelman says: “Children are more confident in their abilities to do science than in becoming a scientist. That may sound subtle, but if you say ‘I'm a scientist,’ kids quickly think it’s an exclusive group that only a certain number of people can belong to.”
That’s why it’s better to put children to work themselves, Brummelman argues. This is exactly what happens in Paola Grosso's class. At the end of the lesson, the children themselves send a message via the Internet. All children are computers and form a network by extending their arms to each other. They must work together to send a message (red and green Lego blocks symbolizing zeroes and ones) to the other side of the classroom. There are also hackers in the game who can intercept the message. “My dream is a safe Internet for everyone,” is Grosso's underlying message.
Teachers can also contribute to enthusiasm for science by formulating science more as an activity. Brummelman explains: “A teacher should therefore not compliment a child who asks an interesting question with a comment such as ‘You are so smart! You will probably win the Nobel Prize,’ but instead put more emphasis on the question and why it is so interesting. By framing science as an action rather than an identity, you make it more inclusive.”
Harry Potter robe
Is it better to wear a gown or not? Opinions differ on this at the various universities, including at the UvA. According to professor on the bike, Marco te Brömmelstroet, who has been advocating for years to organize Meet the Professor at the UvA, gowns should be worn more often. “Why do you never see them on the streets? Why don't we wear them on the train to an oration?”
On the other hand, a gown can encourage stereotypes about “the scientist.” That’s why professors at Nijmegen University have already stopped wearing them. “When the scientist is depicted as a non-human standing in front of the classroom in Harry Potter garb, it can create distance,” says Brummelman. “Then many children - especially girls, children with a migration background, and those from underprivileged families - will wonder: ‘Am I like this person? Can I become a scientist?’”
So the organizers chose not to wear a gown this year but to take it with them in a bicycle bag. Grosso puts the gown on in class. At the end of the lesson, the children line up to have their picture taken with the beret. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Grosso asks in the end. “A journalist,” someone says in a determined voice, and “the owner of a zoo.” And who wants to become a teacher or professor? “Maybe,” someone says cautiously.
