It isn’t straightforward to offer customised secondary education to gifted children. Many such pupils are looking for deeper interdisciplinary integration of the subjects they learn at school, but the regular system doesn’t offer that option. Springbok aims to meet the demand.
Each semester, pupils will have 20 Springbok days, which replace regular schooldays. Eight of these 20 days are immersive sessions on three sites: Brussels (on the VUB campus), Bruges and Dinant. The CLEA research team organises the sessions based on a pedagogical method inspired by scouting, in which groups of different ages travel, eat and learn together.
"Traditionally, universities and libraries have always been stimulating environments for talented adolescents," says Marta Lenartowicz, a VUB researcher with CLEA. "By sharing the free-thinking and innovative spirit of VUB with them, we want to offer inspiration and care to young people who crave extra input."
On the remaining 12 days, pupils study at home. This offers a break from the intense social exposure that can be emotionally overwhelming for highly sensitive or introverted children. They follow lessons via a video system that has a game-like environment. Large parts of "remote Wednesdays" don’t involve sitting at a computer but focus instead on developing skills and routines to stay healthy, self-regulated, productive and creative.
Creative lesson content
To encourage the pupils as much as possible, the Springbok lessons and workshops are designed as "research expeditions". This allows pupils to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of knowledge that is usually divided into separate subjects and grades. They deepen that understanding with insights from various research areas, including ecology, psychology, philosophy, history, politics, sociology, economics and technology. Finally, each Springbok day includes an hour in which pupils complete their regular school assignments.Parents can already register their children for the Springbok programme that runs from October 2023 to May 2024.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an internationally oriented university in Brussels, the heart of Europe. By providing excellent research and education on a human scale, VUB wants to make an active and committed contribution to a better society.
The World Needs You
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel assumes its scientific and social responsibility with love and decisiveness. That’s why VUB launched the platform De Wereld Heeft Je Nodig - The World Needs You, which brings together ideas, actions and projects based on six Ps. The first P stands for People , because that’s what it’s all about: giving people equal opportunities, prosperity, welfare, respect. Peace is about fighting injustice, big and small, in the world. Prosperity combats poverty and inequality. Planet stands for actions on biodiversity, climate, air quality, animal rights... With Partnership , VUB is looking for joint actions to make the world a better place. The sixth and last P is for Poincaré , the French philosopher Henri Poincaré, from whom VUB derives its motto that thinking should submit to nothing except the facts themselves. VUB is an ’urban engaged university’, strongly anchored in Brussels and Europe and working according to the principles of free research.www.vub.be/dewereldheeftjenodig