How we work

A child stays with it when they feel themselves getting better

Progress can build confidence. In a laboratory study with young adults, greater learning progress during a computer-game task was associated with deeper absorption and less reported distraction. The analysis covered 52 people and individual task phases; effects over weeks or in children were not studied (Lu et al., 2025).

We take this as a starting point for our work: we make small steps forward visible and discuss with the child what is already going well and what they would like to try next.

Just within reach

We choose tasks that challenge a child without overwhelming them. We work with the child to judge how demanding a task should be and adjust it as needed. The person at their side shows them, quickly and kindly, what comes next. A mistake shows where to go from here. Trying things out and thinking together can lead to new understanding.

Someone who stays

Trust grows slowly, and only with people who stay. When a child feels that someone really knows them, they dare to do more. Isabelle Hau, executive director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, puts it simply: relationships are the foundation of learning. Close, sustaining relationships in the first years of school predict better results years later, even once family background and IQ are taken into account. A long-term study of Chicago schools linked improvements in reading and mathematics to a combination of leadership, instruction, professional collaboration, learning climate, and relationships with parents and the community. The researchers describe trust as an important foundation for this collaboration. The study shows associations; it does not establish cause and effect (Bryk, 2010).

In our work, we commit to continuity: the same child comes to the same person every week, for a whole semester and often longer. That person thinks about the child between the sessions and brings back the question that was left open last week. The loveliest feeling for a child is that someone is counting on them and believes they can manage.

What human support means

A small exploratory study involving eight children aged five and six compared storytelling with ChatGPT (GPT-4) and with a parent. ChatGPT gave positive feedback more often. This finding describes the storytelling sessions studied; the amount of praise children receive in everyday life was not measured (Chin et al., 2024).

In our work, digital tools can provide support. A person who knows the child remains responsible for their care and learning, asks questions and stays alongside them through difficult moments.

Three paths, one aim

The Forscherbühne awakens wonder and makes science something children and young people in Basel can experience directly. The Learning Bus accompanies each child individually, at their own pace, reliably alongside a person who builds trust and makes development possible. With Brain and Society we bring current knowledge into school about how learning works, how social competence grows, and what part people and technologies play in education. Our work follows the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach: children are understood as active shapers of their own education, and their paths of learning are made visible. Three paths, one aim: to support children in understanding the world, growing into their potential, and feeling understood in what makes them singular.