It’s all about the kids

“'Jean-Jacques Rousseau meets Willy Wonka' is how I describe Ger in my book. He's a brilliant education thinker, a champion of true learning and a wise and wonderful human being.”
- Alex Beard, Author ‘Natural Born Learners’

Early Background

Professor Graus moved from the Netherlands to the UK in 1983 when he began his teaching career at Taverham High School in Norwich. He next moved on to a management position at Winifred Holtby School in Hull. Subsequently, he became Education Adviser for Manchester City Council, introducing Modern Foreign Languages into the primary school phase, and later Senior Inspector for Salford City Council. After that, he became Director of the two Wythenshawe Education Action Zones based in the south of Manchester, leading improvements in both quality and standards across 29 schools.

KidZania

Ger was the first Global Director of Education at KidZania, and prior to that, the founding CEO of the Children’s University. KidZania, where children aged 4 to 14 can experience the world of work through role-play, is designed to inspire and empower: “from inspiration to aspiration”. Since its inception in 1999 in Mexico City, KidZania now has a presence in 30 cities on 5 continents with plans for further developments in some 20 locations including the USA, Canada, China, and South Africa.  

Innovator

Professor Graus has been and is at the heart of innovation and project development such as the ‘Global Barometer of Children’s Wellbeing’ concept, ‘KidZania World Online’, ‘Individual Pupil Participation Profiles’, ‘KidZtalks’, ‘KidZania Careers Weeks’, education ‘Think-Tanks’, ‘Ambassador Schools’, and independent evaluations by, amongst others the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Cass Business School, Havas Helia, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and the Pinsky Centre as part of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow. Based on these evaluations’ findings, Professor Graus is now advocating a ‘Futures Awareness’ campaign in partnership with the world of work to globally introduce careers education into the early primary school phase. After all, as he frequently reminds us: “Children can only aspire to what they know exists.” Professor Graus started at KidZania London in 2014, where he was responsible for developing the UK-wide education strategy, including partnerships with schools, Higher Education, commercial and third sector learning partners.

Academic Leadership

In 2007, he became the founding Chief Executive of the Children's University. Under his leadership, the Children's University became a multiple-award-winning international charity providing 5 to 14-year-olds with exciting and innovative learning opportunities outside school hours. The Children’s University's global reach now extends as far as Australia, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Middle East.