INTERVIEW: Rapping science teacher Matt Green on STEM inspiration

As a STEM ambassador, can you tell us more about what you do?  

In terms of what I’ve done for the past five years, I’ve made social media content, I’ve taken what used to be hour-long science lessons and I convert them to 30-second raps, and I just like all things science related, do weird wonderful things which has brought me here today and it’s an absolute honour to be an ambassador and be working with Goodwood and be working with FOS Future Lab.  

What inspired you to blend rap with science to reach students?  

To make things as easy to understand and as enjoyable as possible in the classroom. I was ten years in the game trying to think of new ways, and just one day I had a real radical idea when I heard a car go by, and I knew the lyrics to [the song playing], and I was like ‘oh, what if I change the lyrics from that song to something scientific?’. As long as the song was good, the kids would remember it. I was like, ‘it’s a ropey idea, will it work?’ Six months after continually, relentlessly doing it, it blew up and that was four years ago.

Why is it vital to make STEM education inclusive for diverse learners?  

Most importantly, if we see people across the spectrum, men, women, ethnicities, race, whatever it is, you can see yourself in that person. If there’s only one represented, where you come from, you might not think, ‘oh, I don’t know if I can do that’. So to be represented, you think you can be it, and that makes a big difference.

How did your own school experiences influence your unique teaching style?  

I was a nerd in school. So I liked my science, I liked my tech. My science teachers, I don’t remember being particularly good, but my English teacher was great. But because I liked science so much, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to know how things worked. And that fascination kept going and took me to A levels in chemistry and biology. At uni, I did biochemistry. The teaching thing was a natural fit; helping kids learn about the subject I love. It wasn’t like a job for me.  

How important is it to capture young minds early for STEM?  

Most kids up to ten years old love science. Maybe ten per cent hate it, but most kids think science is crazy. And then, when you get to Year 7 something happens. We start teaching boring stuff. Here’s the Bunsen burner, can’t use it yet, but turn it on, here’s the label, these diagrams, and by the time you get to Year 8 you forget the subjects.

In Year 9, you’ve got to do your GCSEs and the subjects you hate. I was fortunate or unfortunate, depending on how you think about it. I hated History, so I always approach science like that, by putting myself in the shoes of the kid who hates it. If a teacher did what I do now, made raps on history and put their passion and energy into it, I would have loved the subject.

 

How has social media expanded your reach in promoting STEM education?  

Since going on social media, we’ve got the 11-18 range. We’ve also got teachers not just in the UK, we’ve got teachers in America, we’ve got a huge base in India as well and Africa, and I get messages from all across the globe from students saying ‘I didn’t like science and now I do’, or ‘I was failing in science and now I’m passing it.’

If I go back even 18 months ago, I’d walk into a school, there would be a few students who would know me, and no teachers. Now, if I walk into most schools in the UK, someone in the science department will know, and that’s cool. Then they’re using my stuff in the class to help students.  

Why is it critical to spark young people’s interest in STEM careers?  

We always need to improve humanity. We need to take from what our current technology is to make life better for people in the future. Even nowadays, if you go back to when we didn’t have hot water, we didn’t have advanced sewage, we didn’t have internet, and it’s because of bright minds back then that we have all these inventions.

We need people to be inspired by science now, to make new inventions for the future, and to make great healthcare breakthroughs. We need kids to be inspired and love science from that age, to want to do it. If you’ve got 100 kids now and 90 per cent of the subjects are rubbish, you’ve only got ten kids that will go into it. But if loads of them think the subject’s great, you’ve got a great pool of great minds. Then who knows what we can achieve?

 

What advice do you have for students who love STEM but struggle in class?  

The wealth of resources online is crazy. So you’ve got social media creators like me, and there are vast amounts of others that, if you don’t like rap, there are all sorts of others. There are science creators that you can watch, there’s YouTube, there’s BBC Bitesize, and there are all sorts of things that can get you interested and explain in ways that you can understand. You can also seek tutoring, dabble in ChatGPT if you need some quick answers, but it depends on what you’re looking for — don’t get it to do your homework, because you’re cheating yourself.

How do you hope to inspire the next generation at FOS Future Lab?

I’ve tried everything in there, and we’ve filmed some great videos. So we’ve got some stories that you might have seen if you’ve been following me on social media. We’re just trying to bring it to life. For those people who can’t be here to see the amazing stuff going on, I’m trying to recreate it, film it, bring it to life, and just show the world what it’s about. So next year, hopefully, we can get more kids wanting to do it, come down after seeing it.  

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