Programme

09:00–09:30 WELCOME

Without driven teachers there would be no future Nobel Laureates! Lars Heikensten, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, and Anna Ekström, Sweden’s Minister for Upper Secondary School and Adult Education and Training, welcome you to the summit. You will also meet the moderators for the day – Anna Sjöström Douagi, Gustav Källstrand and Annika Hedås Falk – all of whom work at the Nobel Center.

09.30–10.30 KNOWLEDGE

Since time immemorial we have striven to explain what knowledge is and how it is created. How do we actually know what we know? What can knowledgeable people do? And how can important knowledge be passed on to more people? We discuss the modern definition of knowledge with the following guests:

Bernard “Ben” Feringa, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2016 and Professor of Molecular Sciences at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Bernard Feringa is passionate about teaching and believes students need to be at the forefront of science and knowledge while exploring their creativity and future opportunities. Universities should be playgrounds!

Inger Eriksson, Professor of Education at Stockholm University

Inger Eriksson’s research focuses on taking an experimental approach to her teaching and having the courage to test new methods. The goal is to lay a better foundation for all teachers to increase knowledge-building among their students.

Ola Rosling, founder of the Gapminder foundation

Ola Rosling is passionate about demonstrating how facts and statistics can be used to counteract ignorance, alarmism and populism. How can schools present a fact-based worldview in an environment where even accurate facts are distorted into misleading conclusions?

10.30–10.55 BREAK

Swedish “fika”, i.e. coffee break

10.55–12.00 VALUES

Self-reinforcing myths have always served to unite human collectives. But whose story is the one that counts? How can we stand up for human rights in a society where other values are more predominant? And if democracy means the right to information, what happens when we’re inundated with fake news? Who should protect our right to information? Perhaps the role of the teacher is more important today than ever.

Announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize 2017

Gustav Källstrand and Carl-Johan Markstedt, who is the Peace Prize subject manager at the Nobel Museum, give an introduction to the Nobel Peace Prize. We watch the live broadcast of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize 2017.

Shirin Ebadi, lawyer, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003

Shirin Ebadi was Iran’s first female judge, a position she was forced to leave following the revolution in 1979. Since then she has taught, written books, striven to improve human rights and been on the side of the vulnerable. An extract from the motivation for the Nobel Peace Prize 2003: “She has shown professional gravity, immense courage and has defied danger.”

Herta Müller, author and Nobel Laureate in Literature

Herta Müller has dedicated her life to depicting the conditions of everyday life under a dictatorship. She was forced into exile from Romania in 1987 and now lives in Berlin. Herta Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2009, partly because she “with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”.

Annika Hedås Falk, Head of Educational Programmes at the Nobel Center

Annika Hedås Falk is passionate about inspiring people to seek out knowledge. And she wants your help! What digital resources relating to the Nobel Prize would be useful for you? What forms of contact and exchange would you like with colleagues from other countries?

12.00–13.00 LUNCH

Lunch is served at Münchenbryggeriet.

13.00–14.15 TRUTH

The world is complex and the truth is often multifaceted. Daring to realise how little we know, tackle new issues and talk about what we have learnt along the way calls for tremendous courage. Choose to listen to one of the following courageous speakers in a breakout session:

Shirin Ebadi

Working for human rights in an undemocratic state is particularly hard. Today, Shirin Ebadi will talk about the negative impact of educational policies of the non-democratic states and groups.

Ben Feringa

Passionate about science, Ben Feringa made it all the way to a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Which qualities are most important in making an extraordinary discovery? Knowledge? Curiosity? Courage?

Johan Rockström

How can we disseminate the latest research about our planet? About the art of striking a balance between threat scenarios and hopefulness.

Herta Müller

Herta Müller reads an extract from her novel Der König verneigt sich und tötet (The King Bows and Kills) from 2003. The reading is in German with Swedish subtitles.

13.40 – 14.15 Factfulness for true teachers

Gustav Källstrand leads a panel discussion about how teaching can be based on facts and science to a greater extent than it is today. Teaching should also be engaging and promote students’ interest in science. In a world with fake facts, how do we define the role of the teacher?

Discussion participants

• Johan Rockström, Professor of Environmental Science and Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University
• Ola Rosling, founder of Gapminder
• Johanna Jaara Åstrand, President of The Swedish Teachers’ Union
• Åsa Fahlén, Chairman of The National Union of Teachers in Sweden

14.15–14.40 BREAK

Swedish “fika”, i.e. coffee break

14.40–15.30 PLAY

Get to know and try inspiring ways to improve a fact-based worldview in the classroom. Please choose one of the following breakout sessions:

Try the Gapminder Test 2017

Gapminder has tested the public on the most basic global development trends and people seem to be completely misinformed about what the world looks like. Ola Rosling presents Gapminder’s free teaching material and leads a hands-on workshop on teaching global trends in the classroom.

Teachers’ research – how is it done?

Researching teachers from STLS, Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies, show how research can become an integral part of school development and provide support in meeting challenges in the classroom. Feel free to participate in subject-specific round-table talks on subject-didactic research to develop teaching!

Play the Mundus science game with the Young Academy of Sweden

In the Mundus science game you can apply scientific methods to explore a brand new world: Mundus. Learn the game today – then download your own free version and play Mundus with your students.

Song and dance drama about female Nobel Laureates

A unique opportunity to see Besatta Teatern perform Skandal – an explosive song and dance drama about the female Nobel Laureates in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine. We discuss the challenges of enabling everyone to succeed, irrespective of their gender and other background factors.

15.30–16.00 SUMMARY

What have we learnt today?
What will you take home from this?
And how can we develop the Nobel Teacher Summit for next year?

16.00 POST-CONFERENCE

Socialising, sparkling wine and canapés accompanied by live jazz from the Highway Stompers.