Berättarministeriet

Berättarministeriet is a non-profit organization with the mission to inspire children in under-privileged areas to conquer the written word. The Robert Weil Family Foundation was through Proventus initiator and co-founder and is one of the long term partners. Inspired by the American organization 826 Valencia, founded by writer Dave Eggers, Berättarministeriet opened its first education center in Södertälje in 2011.

Berättarministeriet aims to reduce the negative consequences of segregation on children’s schooling by supporting teachers and students in their daily teaching. Berättarministeriet offers free, creative, language-developing school programs, all based on storytelling along with teacher professional development and targets schools with low academic performance. Four days a week, classes attend school programs at Berättarministeriets facilities such as Editor Schwartz’s Book Publishing, The Story Detectives, and The Mysterious Box, all led by Berättarministeriet’s educators with support from volunteers. The group of volunteers support, encourage, inspire and listen to children in their writing and telling their stories.

The primary schools are offered free school programs that attract students, regardless of level of knowledge, to conquer the written word. The programs are based on the curriculum and are developed in dialogue with the teachers to meet their specific pedagogical conditions and challenges. The programs are progression-based and act as a cross-disciplinary support for teachers and their work teams.

Berättarministeriet has since 2022 a government mandate to spread its method to schools across Sweden. Therefore, the school programs have been developed to be location-independent, and materials such as teacher guides and artifacts are distributed schools centrally. Additional materials, such as videos and digital guides, are available through a teacher portal. 

Berättarministeriet places great emphasis on teacher professional development and offers learning conversations throughout the implementation of a school program and annual teacher conferences. The teacher conferences are held in several cities across the country, where speakers in relevant subjects share their expertise with hundreds of participating teachers. The conferences also provide ample opportunity for learning through collegial discussions.

Today Berättarministeriet has four educational centers; in Järva north of Stockholm, since April 2013, in Hagsätra, south of StockholmIn since 2015, in Gothenburg since 2017 and in 2023 Berättarministeriet opened in Malmö.

Berättarministeriet