School takes place everywhere
When we think of school, we see a classroom: learning takes place in the school building. But this is increasingly changing. With the new teaching methods, there are a variety of options for where and how lessons can take place today. There are also many great offers that enrich learning.
I have been supporting them for years, helping to set them up and providing advice.
In the following, I will introduce you to the most important foundations and organisations that immerse pupils in the real world with their free offers.
Practical education enables pupils to acquire skills that are relevant for their future.
Understanding for your own community
The Our Community programme enables children from the 3rd grade onwards to develop an understanding of their own community and its structures. A trained volunteer from the field accompanies the children on a six-lesson journey of discovery through their community. The children learn what a church is, how it works and who has what tasks. For example: Why do we know who lives in the community, where the community gets its money from, what it does with it and who builds the school building? For me, it is a very sustainable form of learning when schoolchildren become active and get involved in something.
For the female entrepreneurs of tomorrow
Pintolino is aimed at children in years 5 and 6 of primary school. They develop, design and produce a product or service and learn to make decisions, work in a team and realise their own ideas: great fun.
For example, the children are happy when their handmade mobile phone bags make a profit, which in turn is invested or goes towards a social project. At Pintolino, I made sure that the educational programme was properly coordinated. The programme is a matter close to my heart and I am very committed to promoting and spreading the word about it.
Fit for the economy
In the Fit for Business programme, young people from year 7 to 10 learn how to conduct a real job interview or draw up a budget together with a volunteer. Under the guidance of professionals from the world of work, they also learn about the economic cycle through practical exercises and find out how prices are formed.
Youth debates
In the Jugend debattiert programme, young people learn to independently research current topics, assess pros and cons from different perspectives and form their own opinions. Through the methodically structured programme, they learn how to conduct good debates on controversial topics, skilfully defend their own position and respect other opinions.
Discover potential
YES - Young Enterprise Switzerland is the leading provider of practice-oriented business and opinion programmes for schools in Switzerland. As a board member of the non-profit organisation, I am able to support the various programmes. The students should experience practical education in order to acquire skills and knowledge that are relevant for their personal and professional future.
The aim is to help pupils discover their potential and equip themselves independently for a successful future. By working with schools and companies, YES creates a bridge between theory and practice.
Is the tree round or pointed?
Teacher Franziska F. is standing with second-graders Noemi, Till and Loris in the meadow right next to the school building. She asks the children to collect things lying in the meadow and under the tree. Under the guidance of Franziska F., the found objects are categorised according to certain criteria.
The forest project weeks act as an antithesis to our everyday digital lives.
These are adjectives such as pointed, round or soft. This is a fun way for children to learn what adjectives are and what purpose they fulfil. Learning outside is motivating because it turns children into discoverers and explorers of the real world. The outside world offers many spaces to enable individualised learning. This means that the children's different needs are better catered for.
Silviva is the Swiss-wide, trilingual competence centre for learning in and with nature. It supports teachers, school headmasters, teacher training colleges and educational administrations in integrating outdoor learning into their work in a high-quality way.
On the foundation's advisory board, I use my experience, feedback and my network to help ensure that the foundation's goals are achieved. Because in future, it must be normal for learning to take place both indoors and outdoors.
Adventures in the Swiss mountain forest
Under the guidance of forestry experts, young people from Year 7 onwards carry out assignments for mountain communities. They fell trees, build bridges and walls, erect wildlife protection fences and maintain young forests. The strenuous work in the mountain forest is both an adventure and a challenge.
The special concept of the weeks and the close supervision in small groups enable an in-depth exploration of nature. At the same time, they make an active contribution to the cohesion of the country through cultural exchange between town and country, mountain and valley, young and old.
The forest project weeks run by the non-profit foundation Bildungswerkstatt Bergwald are a programme that complements the school curriculum. It aims to provide vivid experiences and deepen important learning processes relating to science and technology. At the same time, the programme helps to strengthen young people's social and personal skills. The forest project weeks act as an antithesis to our digital everyday lives. The impressions they leave behind go deeper than the dirt in their work clothes.
