{"id":80965,"date":"2017-10-11T15:47:12","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T13:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=80965"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:32:18","slug":"primary-school-pupils-scamper-around-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/10\/11\/primary-school-pupils-scamper-around-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Primary school pupils scamper around campus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pupils of the Julian School in Gouda posing for the Erasmus statue.<\/span><\/p>

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Usually, the only interlopers found on University campus are HBO students, with their proverbial frikandel <\/em>sandwiches. But yesterday, an entirely different group of outsiders could be found on EUR turf: 400 children who were scampering around campus. Amongst them 40 kids from Groups 6, 7 and 8 of the Julianaschool primary in Gouda.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this all part of the same school?\u201d asks Noortje, one of the pupils. \u201cThis school is so big that they even have their own supermarket!\u201d Today, the \u2018plus pupils\u2019 from Gouda visited campus to attend an introductory lecture in Philosophy, organised by the Science Hub.<\/p>\n

Challenge<\/h3>
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Pupils of the Julian School are looking for Erasmus on the EUR campus.<\/span><\/p>

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The programmes organised by the Science Hub are intended to challenge highly-gifted primary school pupils. In a series of six lessons, young lecturers deal with a range of subjects from the fields of psychology, philosophy, law, medicine, economics and, since recently, gaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany highly-gifted pupils sail through the regular classes without ever having to really apply themselves. As a result, they often drop out later on as a student,\u201d says Karsten Steehouwer (24, graduate of the Philosophy master programme). \u201cThey never had to really sit down and study before, and suddenly they\u2019re confronted with tests for which they have to do some actual studying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abstract thinking<\/h3>

\u201cWith philosophy, you\u2019re expected to give a subject a lot of thought, so that\u2019s something you can practice during the fall holiday,\u201d is Steehouwer\u2019s closing remark for his pupils. Steehouwer has been working as a lecturer at the Science Hub for the past four years, and he likes to challenge the children who attend his philosophy classes. \u201cGifted children\u2019s level of abstract thinking is comparable to that of teenagers, which means they can handle a lot of complex philosophical thought experiments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tossing and turning<\/h3>

The students may have progressed further than most in their cognitive development, but when it comes to emotional development they are still children. \u201cThe first time I presented a group of children with the thought experiment that perhaps, all their friends and their parents didn\u2019t actually exist \u2013 that they were merely illusions in their minds \u2013 I was told later that two of the kids had been tossing and turning, wide awake, for nights on end,\u201d says Steehouwer. \u201cWe don\u2019t want that, obviously. That\u2019s why now, I always explain first that it\u2019s only a game that allows you to play with your thoughts \u2013 that it isn\u2019t real.\u201d<\/p>\n

read more about erasmus on the campus<\/h2>