The Economist Educational Foundation introduction

The Economist Educational Foundation is anew charity that has been set up by TheEconomist to match our expertise with the needsof socially and economically disadvantagedchildren. We aim to reduce the opportunitygap between them and their middle class peers.The Foundation is an Economist Groupcompany but it is independent, with twoindependent Trustees who are not employed byThe Group. The charity is run completely byEconomist Group volunteers on top of theirday jobs, and although it is being piloted in theUK, the intention is to have volunteers runningFoundation programmes all over the world.

First published in September 1843 to take part in “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”.The Foundation was inspired by the values of The Economist. The newspaper is rooted in thefaith that you can make the world better by helping people to engage intelligently with it.There’s a firm belief that helping people understand the world will enrich their lives and openup opportunities for them.The Economist provides this service to adult readers, but before the Foundation we weren’treaching some of the people for whom we could have the most significant impact: children.The idea for the charity came from the observation that our expertise could be hugely valuableto children - particularly underprivileged children - if we made it accessible to them.There is a hugely exciting match between what we do and what disadvantaged children need.The Economist helps people to understand the world, form an opinion and express itpersuasively. Teachers talk passionately about the disadvantages some children face becausethey’re not lucky enough to learn how to do these things. Without the skills to accessopportunities, these children are hindered throughout their lives. The Economist EducationalFoundation uses The Economist’s expertise to level the playing field. We help give children theskills and knowledge they need to take part, rather than be forced to sit on the side-lines.

THE IDEAAs The Economist does for adults, the Foundationhelps children understand world affairs, makeinformed opinions and express thesepersuasively. In doing so we help them accessopportunities they would otherwise miss out on.Just as The Economist encourages intellectualcuriosity in adults, we teach children to lovelearning by providing them with exciting,happy educational experiences.

OUR VISIONChildren that are more engaged with worldaffairs.Children that are better informed and have theskills to inform themselves in future.Children who know how to develop an informedopinion.Children who know how to make strong logicalarguments in defence of their views, and have theconfidence to do so.

OUR PARTNER SCHOOLSOur priority is to have a meaningful impact on individualchildren, and we believe our content can make a particularlypowerful impression on young people if we put it in thehands of people who understand their unique individualneeds. So we work with teachers.We have five partner schools in London. Each has beenchosen for a different reason but they all have a highproportion of children that are eligible for free school meals.Teachers in these schools advise us on programmedevelopment and participate in the Foundation’s activities.

OUR PARTNER SCHOOLSThe Globe AcademySouthwarkManorfield Primary SchoolTower HamletsSt Joseph’s Catholic Primary School CamdenCyril Jackson Primary SchoolTower HamletsMillbank Primary SchoolWestminster

THE EVENTSThe Economist Group has a world-class conference department with stages,lighting, AV, and access to some of the world’s smartest and most inspiringpeople. Most schools can only dream of these things but we are able to providethem easily.We put on events for children to come to on school trips. They are always abouttopics you would expect to read about in The Economist, and the aim is to givechildren exciting experiences that boost their interest in the subject.The events provide the kind of inspiring, happy educational experiences thatluckier children receive at weekends when they are taken to museums.They bring our content to life in a completely new way, for people who couldbenefit from it more than many of our adult audience-members.

Our first event, on July 13th 2012, was about SCIENCE . We brought 227 children from our partner schools to KingsPlace near Kings Cross, London, for a day of science lectures, comedy, interactive activities and hands-on experiments. The aim was to spark an interest in science and boost the children’s confidence when it comes to asking questions. We wanted to teach them that there’s no such thing as a stupid question, and volunteers worked hard all day to encourage questions from the children.

“ Todays event was a huge success. I thought the speakers were excellent: their sessions were pitched at the right level and their enthusiasm was clearly contagious. Also they were so obviously expert in their fields but with an ability to explain highly complex ideas in ways which did not patronise the children. Maggie Gossling Year 5 Teacher and Science Co-ordinator, St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

“ I can think of no way this event could have been improved… The forethought, planning and availability were first rate. Paul Keane, Year 5 Teacher, Millbank School.

“ All speakers were amazing at answering the children’s questions, in both scientific and child-friendly language. Nikki Lawrence, Teaching Assistant, St John & St James’ School

“ I was very impressed with the event you put on for the youngsters - really very impressive. You created a great atmosphere of curiosity and lively entertainment- which is hard to do. Keep up the good work, its so important for Science and Engineering to attract the best from all walks of life! Mark Miodownik, Professor of Materials and Society at UCL

“ …a huge thank you for inviting us to Fridays event. It really was a wonderful day and the kids are still all buzzing about it today. Apparently, lots of them took the opportunity to visit the Science Museum over the weekend, which is something weve been going on at them about all year. I think youve made the breakthrough! Paul Keane, Year 5 Teacher, Millbank School

Teachers that said this event was ofhigher quality than other school tripsthey have attended:100%

THE WEBSITEThe other project that we are piloting this year is our website.One of the things teachers are most excited about regarding TheEconomist is our ability to create debate. The skills you need to holdyour own in a debate – an understanding of the issues and theconfidence and articulacy to voice an opinion - are often reinforced athome for middle-class children. Children from deprived backgroundscan really lag behind in these skills, or miss out on learning themaltogether.Unfortunately you need these skills to get into university, get a job orprogress in a career.If you help a child to express a persuasive argument, you give themconfidence, you give them a voice, and you give them better access toopportunities that need to be fought for. Our website for teachers willhost resources that help them teach children these skills.

WEBSITE CONTENTThe online library of content includes articles, infographics and videos ofexceptionally high quality. There are articles written by Economistjournalists (in consultation with teachers to adapt the writing for youngchildren) plus video interviews and talks from world-class speakers onexciting topics.A great deal of thought is constantly put in to ensuring the content is trulypractical for teachers to use.We hope teachers all over the world will use the website to teach lessons.In addition to that, we will work with schools to support or help start debateclubs. The clubs will allow us to have an ongoing, and therefore moresignificant and long-lasting, impact on the children that we reach.We are particularly excited about the prospect of running breakfast debateclubs, where we provide food, so the children receive proper nourishment inthe morning. Families struggling for money often can’t feed their childrenthe food that they need to concentrate throughout the day.In future we would like to use The Economist Group’s global reach toenhance debate clubs: imagine children in London regularly entering intoonline debates with children in Beijing.

THE VALUE WE PROVIDEBecause the Foundation is run entirely by volunteers atThe Economist Group, we can provide a huge amount ofvalue to the children we reach for relatively little cost.For every donation that covers the cost of running aFoundation project, The Economist Group will contributethe expert staff time to execute the project, greatlystretching the value of the financial contribution.Because every donation allows us to commit Economistexpertise to the aims of the Foundation, every donation hasa far greater social impact than the money alone could buy.We will be thrilled to receive any donations that help us tocontinue to run our projects, and do even more, in future.

To discuss making a donation, what your donation could enable us to do and thebenefits for donors, please contact Emily. Emily Evans The Economist Foundation 0207 576 8122 emilyevans@economist.com

THANKYOU

The Economist Educational Foundation introduction

by Audra Martin on Sep 07, 2012

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