January 30, 2024
We are happy to announce that HLE Network has been welcomed as official partner of Utrecht University's Multilingual Voices in STEM Education (Multi-STEM) research project. STEM stands for "Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics."
The Multi-STEM project aims to promote participation in STEM education of children with migrant backgrounds. The project is run by Professor Elma Blom, Professor of Language Development and Multilingualism in Family and Education at Utrecht University. Multi-STEM is a Dutch Research Agenda (NWA) project. You can read more about the Multi-STEM project here.
We are very much interested in multilingual children’s life worlds, and how they navigate different learning settings, including HL programs.
- Researchers from the Multi-STEM project
The scope of the Multi-STEM project is broad. It approaches heritage language education from the perspective of families/care-takers, mainstream schools, and museums. The researchers are interested in "multilingual children’s life worlds, and how they navigate different learning settings."
HLE Network is eager to join the project so we can contribute the important perspective of HL educators. And what better region than Eindhoven to explore how STEM education can be promoted? We have pledged to share expertise and help the researchers find suitable participants.
We would like to thank Elma Blom and her team for this opportunity for meaningful collaboration and we would also like to thank Vlad Niculescu-Dinca and the Romanian School of Eindhoven, who played an integral role in making this connection. You can read an impressive example of how the Romanian School of Eindhoven fosters a love for science via the home language here.
Our hope is that interested HL educators from our network will be able to help inform the Multi-STEM project and that, in return, any visibility gained will lead to greater appreciation of HL educators. We will keep you updated!