EDITO
By Ange Ansour, Director of Savanturiers - École de la recherche
Our antidotes to gloom
Visit results of the TIMSS international comparative assessments in maths and science for CM1 and 4ème pupils The findings are clear: our education system is in peril.
All evaluations, both national and international, had already highlighted the weight of inequalities and our school's inability to correct them. Today, however, we are faced with a far bleaker picture: even our educational “elite” is being eroded. In other words, the cultural capital of the most privileged families can no longer compensate for the shortcomings of our schools.
A detailed analysis of the results shows that there are multifactorial reasons for this massive failure: investment, teacher training, pedagogical culture, teaching objectives, sense of belonging to the school, governance, etc. The crisis is structural, systemic, and no single measure will suffice on its own to save students and thus the country's future. The crisis is structural and systemic, and no single measure will suffice on its own to save the pupils and therefore the country's future.
What can be done about this tangle? The example of many other countries shows that it is possible to rectify the situation. But here in France, too, many teachers are thwarting determinism. From now on, with every publication, we'll be sharing examples of success, scientific ambition, creativity and happiness at school!
Emilie Taphanel's CE1/CE2 pupils (Montbazin) have won the Grand Prix de l'Innovation pour la Santé de l'Enfant from the Fondation Saint-Pierre. Their prototype of a connected shoe to help visually-impaired children get around school and play with other children, designed with their mentor Christine Azevedo-Coste, was rewarded in a competition bringing together over 80 projects from researchers and start-ups specializing in robotics and digital technology.
To discover the work of the class step by step in an education through research project, you can read the class blog.
In Creil, Valentin Dulondel's TÊTACLASSES decided to focus on plant communication, particularly between trees. They document their project with videos which you can follow to accompany the students' scientific, literary and artistic explorations step by step. This project follows on from last year's on bees. Savanturiers students with a head for ideas!
In this newsletter, we also invite you to discover :
- community news, with a mentor profile, maps showing the location of classes and mentors, and a film of The Schools Challenge project; ;
- upcoming training sessions: webinar and MOOC re-release; ;
- solutions for the classroom with 2 new project formats for a different approach to education through research; ;
- the latest educational and scientific news; ;
- upcoming events.
Happy holidays to all and no to determinism!
