Multi-STEM is a research project that aims to promote the participation of multilingual children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
Subprojects
Children with a migration background can encounter obstacles in Dutch education.
Developing multilingual strategies for STEM education
Multi-STEM wants to ensure that multilingual children feel seen and heard, and that they can fully participate in education.
Multilingual children possess knowledge and skills in their home language that are lost in a monolingual Dutch environment.
That’s why Multi-STEM is developing an approach where both Dutch and home languages can be used.
Allowing a child to use all of their languages not only improves school performance, but also ensures that the child feels seen and involved.
Recent Blog Posts
-
“I have been to the museum, too”: Why newcomer children should go with their schools to science museums
In this post, we show a glimpse of newcomer children’s experiences at Teylers, the oldest museum of the Netherlands. Science, history and multiple languages come together as the museum guides tell the children all about Saussure’s Mont Blanc expedition. Take a look!
-
The home language is a key, a bridge, and a mirror
The home language is a key, a bridge, and a mirror. At a conference for primary education in the Netherlands last week, we explained these metaphors in our workshop. In this blog, we will show what we mean by the metaphors and how you can find them in practice.
-
How we talk about language matters: ‘Your’ language, ‘your’ country
We tend to think that people’s language is the language spoken in the country where they were born. And, to a certain extent, that is true. In many cases, that language is strongly connected to who we are: our family and friends, memories, dreams, and knowledge. But is that the only language that is ours?…