Educating the global generation
Theo from EWS Academy made sure to bring his ski outfit. It will come in handy when he visits his buddy Carl in Västerås. It strikes Theo that Västerås and Northamptonshire are quite similar; both combine rural and industrial features.
“Do you know any of the traditions that we celebrate in Sweden?” Carl asks Theo when they sit down next to each other in the classroom at Kunskapsskolan Västerås.
“Sure. What is it called when you walk around with candles in your hair?” asks Theo.
“It’s called Lucia. Here, its celebrated on the 13th of December with lots of singing and gingerbread biscuits,” Carl explains.
The buddies from EWS Academy are spending two full days with their Swedish hosts at Kunskapsskolan Västerås, and interact naturally during the seminar. The British students are not required to wear their school uniforms here in Västerås. If you did not know who they were, it would be hard to tell who goes to which school.
Lena Odén is Assistant Principal at Kunskapsskolan Västerås and Kunskapsskolan Enköping, where she has been developing learning projects based on KED Buddies for both schools over the past two years.
“Unlike the usual history lesson, the experiences from KED Buddies will be remembered by students for life,” Lena says.
The majority of her students have never had the opportunity to explore the world like this before:
“KED Buddies is a unique opportunity for students to broaden their perspectives. It allows them to grow as individuals and as members of a community.”
Lena has applied KED Buddies within several subject areas.
As part of their French and German studies, students at Kunskapsskolan Enköping have connected with buddies at the UK school Hampton Academy to practice their language skills. A class of Year 9 students at Hampton Academy sent letters in French to the students in Enköping. The Swedish buddies then replied – likewise in French:
“It was good to write in French to real people. It makes a nice change from lessons, as there is an actual purpose to it,” says William, one of the English Year 9s who participated in the project.
When you join a KED school, you also join a global community.
“As a school in the KED Network, the world is so close to us. I want to develop small and large projects involving students in different countries. We will use the Internet as the platform for interaction. We are also planning on increasing the opportunities for students to travel abroad. But adding a global perspective to our daily schoolwork – to cultivate a global mindset – is the most essential thing,” says Lena.
The Kunskapsskolan schools are among the leading schools of Sweden. The success of its KED Program can be judged not only by students’ performance being higher than the Swedish national average, but also by the growth of KED schools across international boundaries. Currently, over 100 KED schools and KED Inspired schools are operational across Sweden, UK, the Netherlands, India, USA and the Middle East. The schools follow the curriculum of each country and grade student performance according to national standards.
Kunskapsskolan Education,
Box 11205, SE-100 61 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel +46 8-506 910 00