Dries Grosseels

STEM educator

Describe your job in less 50 words:

The job as an educator at the UCLL engineering and science academy involves working out innovative STEM projects. These projects can then be used to teach young students ( 6-14 years old) and their teachers. We also organise after-school workshops and STEM-camps.

What do you like most about your job?

What I like most about my job is the variety. One day you work on a project involving electricity or construction and the next day you excite and inspire young children by teaching.

I also try to inspire people and teachers at a higher level. For example, I am a partner in this European project. This gives me the opportunity to develop lesson plans that can be used on a larger scale.

What I also like about my job is that we organise camps. In these camps, you really see the children make progress. The first day they learn the basics and by the last day they are completely on their own.

If I could pick a favourite workshop, it would be Lego masters. Participants are given fun challenges to tackle with Lego.

What did you want to be when you were at school?

When I was young, I was always interested in crafting and techniques. Through my years of experience as a member of the boyscouts, I learnt many social skills as well as technical skills.

I knew at that time ( at the age of 16) that I wanted to become a teacher.

How could i do your job? I would be able to:

Once I graduated from secondary school, I was allowed to choose a course of study. I then chose to study to become a cooking and STEM teacher. The training lasted 3 years during which both theory and practice were covered.

Once graduated, I got the chance to start as an educator at the UCLL engineering and science academy where I have been working for 6 years now.

Mentoring session