Explora brings promising and underprivileged together in one class
In Breda there is a special class that brings gifted children from underprivileged neighborhoods together with gifted children from a wealthy neighbourhood. “What makes it extra special is that the students are selected for their talents. In other words, the gap is fought with talent."
Image: Rob Niemantsverdriet
In the car on the way to a class outing, two students in the back seat talked to each other. “Do you also go skiing during the holidays?” To which the other child said, "We don't have skis at home." And one child replied: “You can just rent it there too.” The parent behind the wheel was terribly embarrassed, although the children themselves had no idea. That skiing is a costly affair and that you can do it at all.
It is typical of the different worlds that meet in the room on the first floor of primary school de Fontein in Breda. The place where Explora has been located since the beginning of March. A class for gifted education consisting of 22 students -from groups 5, 6, and 7- from two different primary schools in Breda: one is located in a prosperous neighbourhood, the other in a problem neighbourhood. They have lessons together four mornings a week and the rest of the time they are in their own class at their own school.
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“In the first week of Explora, we made up a class song for fun”, says Iris Joosen. At the beginning of last school year she was still in group 6 in regular primary education and since March this year she has been running the Explora class. A challenge since she had never previously stood for three groups at the same time and the teaching material for this level has to be developed largely in-house. Joosen has completed the academic teacher training course and is following a master's degree in educational science in addition to her work, so the theory is correct. And the practice also goes surprisingly well.
What works especially is that they are stimulated at a high cognitive level in the morning and maintain social connection in their own class in the afternoon
Joosen: “What works most of all is that they are stimulated at a high cognitive level in the morning and that they maintain social connection in their own classroom in the afternoon.” The bow cannot always be taut, so they can do a thinking game in between this morning. The boys from group 7 of the Fontein have chosen the 'IQ puzzler pro game'. Mohamad (11): “Every day is different here. What also makes it fun is that we get to know children who go to another school.”
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Image: Rob Niemantsverdriet
Weerstand
The idea behind the project is to offer appropriate education to talented, gifted students and at the same time bring two worlds together. High-potential and underprivileged together in one class. In practice, that means twelve children of the Dr. The Visserschool from the Ginneken, a prosperous neighbourhood, and ten from the Fontein primary school, from the problem neighborhoods of Brabantpark and Geeren-Zuid. At de Fontein there are mainly students with a migration background who often speak little or no Dutch at home.
Sofie van de Waart, project leader Explora Breda: “What makes it extra special is that the students are selected for their talents. In other words, the gap is fought with talent. These children are more skilled than the average student and have the capacity to learn from each other. I am confident that if they meet again in high school, they will continue to visit each other.”
These children are more skilled than the average student and have the capacity to learn from each other
Initially, there was some resistance from parents, especially from the Dr. The Fisherman's School. That feeling has been completely changed by all the positive stories. There are now even more interested parties than there is room. The main reason for this, according to Van de Waart, is that they have found out that they are sweet, nice children who live on the other side of the city. And that it is a unique opportunity to sit in one class with seven nationalities. “They experience other things, such as halal treats and Ramadan, which are taken into account. But things are also learned the other way around, so now not from a book but simply in practice. By introducing the children to each other and to each other's culture, we connect the parents and ultimately, as the ultimate result, the neighbourhoods.”
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Image: Rob Niemantsverdriet
Relief
Meanwhile, Madelief (10) of the Dr. The Visserschool found a new friend in Ashwaaq van de Fontein. Madelief: “We were at Ashwaaq's house and we went to have something to eat first. We got a kind of pancakes, but heartier, a bit in between pancakes and wraps. Then I added some sort of tomato sauce and Nutella, not mixed up of course. It was very tasty, and funny too because at home I eat a sandwich and then I'm ready again. Then we went to play in a playground near her and on the trampoline for a while.”
In the playtime, a number of pupils from the different schools have developed a fantasy game that they play every break
Van de Waart: “In the beginning, when we left it free to choose who would work or play with whom, they soon found themselves with the children of their own school. But now, a few months later, that is changing. In the playtime, a number of students, from the different schools, have developed a fantasy game which they play every break. These children would never meet each other otherwise. The schools are two kilometers apart as the crow flies, but there is an instinctive wall between them.”
Ashwaaq (10): “We understand each other better here than in my regular class. I didn't like going to school at first either, because we often had to learn things I already knew. What I enjoy most is writing, and I like to read. My favorite writer is Paul van Loon. I also make up stories myself. In my normal class we never get writing assignments, but luckily here at Explora very often.”
“She writes the most beautiful stories and letters,” Joosen adds. “Very nice sentences with fancy words in them.” Van de Waart: “The children of Explora are head and shoulders above their classmates. They are by far the smartest and often loners in their own class. It is therefore a relief for them to sit here in the mornings.” This confirms the Romanian Teodor, who has been living in the Netherlands for a year. “I'm in group 7, my language is not group 7, but my math is. I really like this class because we do difficult things here.”
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Project leader Sofie van de Waart: “The two schools are two kilometers apart as the crow flies, but there is an instinctive wall between them.” Image: Rob Niemants sadness
Teodor's class is one floor below in the Fountain. The place that was deliberately chosen at the start of the project. For practical reasons - the school had a room available - and to allow the parents and children from the Ginneken to come to this, often unknown, side of town. The project has so far exceeded expectations. There are even dreams of expanding to two grades and four grades. Grades 5 and 6 in one school and grades 7 and 8 in the other is the ideal scenario. And then an official scientific study was recently linked to Explora, to measure what it does to the students. Whether it makes them happy, feel better about themselves and their behavior has changed positively.
Van de Waart: “When we talk about the gap and closing it, I really believe that this works.”
