How many times have you been to Brazil?
Seven Times – business trips
What is the purpose of this visit?
Touch base with Bianca, her partners and the schools she is working with. See how the program Experimento works in Brazil, check the progress. Clarify potential questions. Do onsite inspections and observations for Experimento at work. Evaluate if possible. Strengthen the cooperation between the German Siemens Stiftung und Siemens Fundação.
What´s your schedule of events/visits while in Brazil?
See attached program details
Mr. Busch, can um tell us, briefly, about your lifelong experience in education?
I started working with schools at Siemens when I was in charge of the Siemens Partner School Program since 2004. I strategically developed the program amid Siemens’ changing business activities. When the Siemens Stiftung was established in 2009, I began working on the Experimento program. Again, the mission is to constantly adapt the program to the school requirements. Therefore, we added new features, such as inclusion, service learning, and, most recently, blended learning, a program which combines onsite workshops with web based trainings.
What makes you passionate about education?
You have the tools to make a difference. Education of young children is key to the development of any society and should be given the absolute first priority in any society.
What can you tell about your role in Siemens Stiftung? How long have you been working at Siemens Stiftung? What projects and goals have you been part of? What are your current responsibilities?
I am in charge of the actual implementation of the Experimento program in Germany and the cooperation and consultancy for the program implementation in Brazil. In Germany I cooperate with so called Experimento Centers, i.e. high schools which actually organize and implement Experimento workshops for the schools in their vicinity. I organize these workshops in close cooperation with the Centers, check the implementation of the workshop results and evaluate the program development and progress.
Have you been involved in the creation of Experimento? Can you tell how it was developed? What was the primary goal, how were the initial development, the kits’ conception, who were involved and how it has been improving since?
We started with the idea that there should be a program which would work throughout the entire educational life of a student, i.e., from the kindergarten all the way up to the high school diploma, which could be translated into any language and, consequently, implemented in any country, and make a contribution to our objective to feed the student’s needs for STEM education in an experimental way. The result was Experimento – a program focused on three areas, energy, the environment and health, thereby also reflecting core businesses of our founder and patron, the Siemens AG. We then put together a team of scientists including professors from Munich University and conceptualized a program which includes the workshops to train teachers, a box with the experiment material and teaching material made available online in out media portal.
Why STEAM education is so important to present and future?
See above.
You travel to many countries to visit educational programs; the education challenges are the same or differ from one place to another? What are the commons points wherever you go? What makes you more concerned and more hopeful about the future of global education?
The core challenge is the same all over the world: a lack of sufficient knowledge about science and technology and a commonly shared bias that STEM subjects are too complicated for a student to learn.
Last year you came to Brazil and visited schools, met students and teachers and stated you were very well impressed about the Experimento in Brazil. What do you expected to see one year later?
My expectation is as such that I want to hear from students and teachers about their experience and ways to improve the program.
What are your general impressions on Brazilian Education?
From what I have heard from my partners, there seems to be a large gap between anything “public” and “private” in all aspects of the Brazilian society.
What were the highlights of the visit?
Have you seen and learn new things in relation to last year’s visit?
Have you noticed consistent changes from one visit to another?
What message you would like to send to Brazilian educators and students?