Talent scouting
The NRW talent scouts program gives highly dedicated and motivated schoolchildren advice and support so that it is no longer social inequalities but the young people themselves who decide what educational journey they want to embark on.
Why are we here?
In Germany, the educational journey that a young person embarks on is often decided not by their talents and abilities but by their family background and the socio-economic structures in which they grow up.
Young people from a non-academic household (i.e. whose parents or carers did not go to university) face additional barriers to accessing higher education, from not knowing as much about how the system works through to questions of funding and a lack of role models and networks. By contrast, young people from academic households are less likely to seize the many opportunities offered by apprenticeships and vocational careers.
What do we do?
We want to help break the mold by providing long-term support to talented individuals from schools in Bonn and the Rhein-Sieg and Rhein-Erft districts without any preconceived ideas about the outcome. The aim is for the young people themselves, rather than any social inequality, to decide what kind of education or training they want to pursue.
At the center of our work is the support that we give them to find their own strengths while making them more confident about what they already know they can do. This involves showing them various strategies and opportunities, building useful networks and overcoming structural obstacles and barriers together with them.
Who do we support?
As far as we are concerned, a talented individual is any schoolchild who devotes part of their school, home or free time to something that is important to them, who feels strongly about a particular issue or who simply wants to formulate a vision for their future career together with us.
27%
of children from non-academic households will embark on a degree program.
vs.
79%
of children from academic households will do so.
Our support is…
free of any preconceived ideas about the outcome
The young person themselves decides what happens after they finish school.
straightforward
We can be reached quickly via various channels (WhatsApp, phone and email).
proactive
We come to the schools to give our advice.
confidential
Only the young person and the talent scout are involved in the session.
free
Our support is free of charge.
bespoke and personal
Our support is tailored to the individual needs of every young person we see.
General requirements for the talent scouts program
Hello,
So that we can give you personalized advice and support over the long term as part of the talent scouts program and provide various other services to assist you (including seminars, workshops and fact-finding events), we will need to store and process various pieces of information about you in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This includes personal data (e.g. your last name, first name, date of birth, school and contact details) and statistical data (e.g. your gender and whether you come from a migration background) as well as some of the things that we might discuss (e.g. information on your performance at school, your own strengths and desires, your life plans and home life, any next steps we decide on and details of the content of future sessions). Although we always mention this requirement in our first sessions, we also require your permission (known as “consent”) in writing. You will not be signing a contract or committing yourself to do anything. You can tell us at any time that you do not want your details to be stored, and they will be deleted straight away. You can never be forced to take part in the talent scouts program. You can talk to us at any time if you have any questions.
Schoolchildren under 16 will also require the signature of a parent or carer.
Information for specific target groups
Here you can find answers to some common questions posed by the various target groups.
Schoolchildren 4| Teachers5 | Parents6
We’ve answered all the most important questions for you here.
“Talent” is a big word and one that you might not at first think could apply to you. What we mean by this is that young people are sometimes not as free as they should be in discovering and developing their own abilities and goals due to external circumstances, and this is exactly where we want to provide active support. In our program, therefore, we look at factors including motivation, curiosity, the ability to inspire others, particular skills or hobbies, any voluntary activities at home or in society and your visions for the future (which may well seem completely unachievable for you at this point). If any of this applies to you, we might be just what you need. We’ll help you fulfill your potential so that you can make the right decisions for your future career.
We visit your school once a month and can arrange a consultation with you there. These conversations last between 30 and 45 minutes, and you will be released from lessons in order to attend—your teachers will be aware of the program. Talk to the teacher who coordinates the program at your school if you want to make an appointment.
In our first meeting, we will need to clear up a few administrative bits (such as your declaration of consent and the privacy notice), then we can get to know each other and find out together what things are important to you.
Everything that we discuss will be treated confidentially. This means that we will not tell anyone about what we have talked about unless you say we can.
If you have an urgent question or something that cannot wait until our next session at your school, you can WhatsApp us or simply give us a call.
As a rule, only you and your talent scout will be present at your meetings, and what we discuss will be kept confidential.
You do not have to pay for talent scouting and cannot be forced to do it.
Below you will find everything you need to know about working with the talent scouts.
The talent scouts program is designed for school students at secondary school level II (EF, Q1, Q2) at a Gesamtschule, Gymnasium or Berufskolleg in the city of Bonn or the Rhein-Sieg or Rhein-Erft districts.
To come and work at your school, we will need a dedicated room that will ensure a quiet and confidential setting for our consultations. We talent scouts will be in close dialogue with the teacher coordinating the program at your school as it is they who organize how the school students make appointments for our consultations.
Our meetings are held during the school day and the individual students are released from lessons in order to attend them. A consultation lasts between 30 and 45 minutes.
Since you, as their teacher, will spend a lot of time with your school students, you will be familiar with their abilities, their voluntary activities and their circumstances at home. If you have someone in mind who is highly motivated given their individual circumstances and is keen to formulate a plan for the future but has unfortunately not been able to exploit their potential to the full so far, we would be delighted if you could encourage them to come and talk to us. The teacher who is coordinating the program at your school can put them in touch with us.
Below you will find everything you need to know about the advice given to your children.
In the fast-paced world we live in today, how we coexist in society is changing and new opportunities are opening up, including in the world of work. It is therefore hard to keep track of everything and perfectly understandable that many young people should be facing the challenge of finding the right path. We talent scouts want to help schoolchildren fulfill their potential and make what will be the right decision for them, be this going to university, doing an apprenticeship, engaging in voluntary service or even spending time abroad. We have an extensive network at our disposal that will allow us to put your child in touch with a wide range of contacts and share a wealth of experience to help them make their own decisions.
We visit your child’s school once a month and can arrange a consultation with them there. These conversations last between 30 and 45 minutes, and your child will be released from lessons in order to attend—the teachers at the school will be aware of the program. They are held in a safe space, and all data and information will be kept confidential. If your child has any questions or concerns that cannot wait until their next meeting at school, they can easily contact us by email, phone or WhatsApp. It is important to us and our work that we think long-term, without any preconceived ideas about the outcome, and that we always base the next steps on what your child actually wants.
As a rule, only your child and their talent scout will be present at your meetings, and what we discuss we will keep confidential. We can arrange a meeting with yourself, your child and the talent scout if you consider it necessary.
Your child’s participation in the program is voluntary and free of charge.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Teachers should reach out to their named contact if they already know who that is.
Sonja Eisbach
3.002
Poppelsdorfer Allee 49
53115 Bonn
Christina Lefarth
3.002
Poppelsdorfer Allee 49
53115 Bonn
Daniel Schulz
3.002
Poppelsdorfer Allee 49
53115 Bonn
More information
How did the talent scouts program come about?
You can find out more on the website of the NRW-Zentrum für Talentförderung (NRW Center for Talent Development).
Why is the University of Bonn involved in the talent scouts program?
The University of Bonn sees human diversity as an opportunity. Read more about this on the website of the Equal Opportunity and Diversity Unit.
What has the talent scouts program already achieved?
A scientific study by the Berlin Social Science Center has shown that talent scouting improves educational justice and helps to remove educational barriers.
Links
- https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/consultation-and-service/central-study-advisory-and-counseling-service/talent-scouting#contact
- https://hochschulbildungsreport.de/fokusthemen/arbeiterkinder
- https://www.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/medien-studium/medien-beratung-und-service/medien-zentrale-studienberatung/medien-talentscouting/datenschutzerklaerung-talentscouting-uni-bonn-1.pdf
- https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/consultation-and-service/central-study-advisory-and-counseling-service/talent-scouting#schoolchildren
- https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/consultation-and-service/central-study-advisory-and-counseling-service/talent-scouting#teachers
- https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/consultation-and-service/central-study-advisory-and-counseling-service/talent-scouting#parents
- https://www.nrw-talentzentrum.de/talentscouting/grundverstaendnis/
- https://www.chancengerechtigkeit.uni-bonn.de/en/diversity/diversity
- https://www.mkw.nrw/hochschule-und-forschung/studium-und-lehre/talentscouting