{"id":2045,"date":"2025-03-26T15:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T14:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lpinstitute.dev.onpressidium.com\/news\/apprendre-enseigner-autrement\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T12:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:37:02","slug":"learn-teach-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/news\/apprendre-enseigner-autrement\/","title":{"rendered":"At the Institut des D\u00e9fis, In\u00e8s Allag and Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica Mej\u00eda C\u00e1ceres are perfecting the art of transforming both how we learn and how we teach"},"content":{"rendered":"

In\u00e8s Allag and Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica Mej\u00eda C\u00e1ceres have a common goal, and that\u2019s devising new ways to learn and teach that they can then share with others. Read on to get to learn all about these two innovators engineering new pathways in education from the offices of the Institute of Challenges (Institut des d\u00e9fis), a body jointly run by the Learning Planet Institute and Paris Cit\u00e9 University.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Experience Abroad Fosters New Ideas in Teaching<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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In\u00e8s Allag<\/a> spent much of her life hopping from country to country, in which time she\u2019s observed different styles of teaching at work. After her schooling in France through the undergraduate level, she was on an exchange programme in Turkey when an English professor felt so confident in her translation skills\u2014a confidence she in no way shared\u2014that he asked her to start teaching the subject. Despite her trepidation, she launched herself into the gauntlet of leading a classroom, starting her on a course of continual travel and teaching that took her to destinations as distant as New Zealand, at every turn experimenting with different education methods, trying her hand with digital education tools, etc.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When she finally made it back to France, she taught in the public-school system and realized what a highly idiosyncratic education landscape the country is home to. It eventually inspired her to leave teaching to get a degree in education engineering. \u201cIn my time teaching at the university level, I enjoyed being free to structure my own courses so much that I wanted to pursue it as a career. The field of education engineering is where you get to do just that<\/em>,\u201d says In\u00e8s. She earned her degree in 2022 and joined the Institute of Challenges<\/a> soon after.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica Mej\u00eda C\u00e1ceres<\/a> as well, it was her experience as a teacher that piqued her interest in education engineering. \u201cI\u2019m Columbian and did both my undergrad and master\u2019s in education and science [biology, chemistry, and physics] with a particular focus on environmental education.<\/em>\u201d Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica went on to get her PhD in Brazil in education, health, and science in the hopes of training educators to teach environmental education, and that\u2019s precisely what she did, starting out in primary school before moving onto to high-school and university education.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It was while she was invited as a researcher in Germany that she first read about the Learning Planet Institute online. When she finally got to visit the campus, she felt right at home. \u201cThe Institute\u2019s focus on environmental education in a highly eclectic learning space spoke to me right away,\u201d she says. Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica joined forces with In\u00e8s and the rest of the Institute of Challenges in February 2024 to head the body\u2019s education-innovation efforts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica Mej\u00eda C\u00e1ceres and Ines Allag at the Learning Planet Institute<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Education Engineering and Innovating: Two Ventricles in the Beating Heart of the Learning Planet Institute\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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In\u00e8s and Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica\u2019s interests are so similar, it\u2019s almost as if they were meant to work together at the Learning Planet Institute, whose long list of innovative-education programmes\u2014from Builders of Possibilities<\/a> (B\u00e2tisseurs de Possibles), to HOP!\u2019s project-based development of inclusive teaching methods, as well as how the LPI co-designs academic-degree programmes<\/a> and trains teachers in new, collaborative educational approaches\u2014evidence the value of innovating and retooling in the field of education.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cEducation engineering is the art of designing academic programmes tailored to the needs of students first and foremost<\/em>\u00a0,\u201d says In\u00e8s. \u201cThat means hand-selecting the resources guiding the programme, the right learning approaches and tools [\u2026] In tandem to that, you devise how educators will be trained, so it goes far beyond course content, touching even areas of logistics and organisational structure as well. It\u2019s engineering a programme on the meta level.<\/em>\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For In\u00e8s, education engineering and innovating are two sides of the same coin. \u201c'Innovating' is a bit of a misleading word because you see a lot of older teaching methods such as the Socratic method and others getting re-introduced into the classroom<\/em>,\u201d she says, and Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica can only smile at hearing this. She couldn\u2019t agree more. \u201cSomething we have in common is we both question traditional methodologies and seek out alternatives. For example, we try to generate greater student participation by designing the education environment to be more collaborative, favoring project-based learning, finding pathways for art to contribute to lessons, and more.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The Institute of Challenges, A Learning Lab\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Within the Challenge Institute<\/a> (IDD), In\u00e8s and Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica have no shortage of missions. \u00abYou asked us what a typical day in our jobs was like, and there isn't one!, <\/em>they enthuse. Co-created in 2020 by\u2019Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9<\/a> and the Learning Planet Institute, this interdisciplinary institute<\/a> has a role to play: designing new teaching and educational approaches to support the ecological and societal transitions in universities and cities. It's a journey full of successes, challenges and failures, which has helped to connect the university, the city and civil society players around projects and issues linked to sustainability. Since its inception, the SDI has seen the launch of 8 experimental programmes in areas such as digital technology, pedagogy and teaching.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Workshop organized by the Institut des D\u00e9fis as part of the Learning Planet Festival<\/em><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Training differently: between project-based pedagogy and mentoring<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica and In\u00e8s haven't completely put away their teaching hats - quite the opposite, in fact. They have both worked on the design of the pedagogical model for the new AIRE Master's degree in global health<\/a>, in collaboration with the Master's teaching team and students. \u00abWe have worked hard to design a coherent model, based on feedback from students. This is very important so that we can improve our approach each time.\u00bb<\/em>, explains Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In Master 1, she teaches a course in sustainability science. \u00abSixteen nationalities are represented in this Master's course, and we have taken account of students\u00bb demands in this area: they needed an approach to the environment that was not only biological but also (multi-) cultural. Today, we use project-based teaching in this course: the students identify a problem that speaks to them, that is close to their hearts, and try to find a solution.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In\u00e8s adds: \u00abThis is where our complementarity between engineering and innovation comes into its own. In this course, for example, I advised on the methodology to be adopted in project teaching, anticipating what needed to be put in place to succeed, and also supporting the mentoring programme.\u00bb\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the AIRE Master's program, students are mentored, and the role of mentor is not something you can improvise,\" stresses In\u00e8s, who has been able to develop her skills in this area at the IDD. \u00abEven good teachers are not necessarily good mentors! In educational engineering, we question everything that is supposed to be obvious. We often think that someone who is an expert in a subject will be able to teach it, but that's not true. You have to learn how to teach. That's why we're here, to guide mentors and teachers.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Building bridges between teachers and disciplines\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Guiding teachers is one thing, connecting them is another. \u00abEverything is often very siloed between subjects within the university\u00bb.\u00bb<\/em>, explains In\u00e8s. \u00abWe're trying to break down the walls and open up a bit more to build bridges between teachers, get them to think together and share their practices, for example in terms of setting up teaching methods. <\/em>In response to teachers' isolation, IDD has set up a community of practice, PedaGo!<\/a>, This is a forum for discussing educational issues and sharing experiences and best practices. \u00abIDD planted the seed\u00bb<\/em>, says Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica, and P\u00e9daGo! continues to operate independently.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

These programs are just a few examples. The Institut des D\u00e9fis team recently worked on the publication of the iN&Di guide<\/a>, A document that bears witness to the IDD's approach to creating an intersectional program to raise awareness of inclusion and diversity.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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A community on the move to rethink education<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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There's no doubt that In\u00e8s and Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica are passionate when they talk about their work. Both emphasize how lucky they are to be at the crossroads of disciplines and to be able to train in a wide range of skills (marketing, digital, project management, training...). They also consider themselves fortunate in the creative freedom they are able to develop. \u00abHere at the Learning Planet Institute, everyone is given the space to be creative, to do things their own way, and that gives rise to beautiful things.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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An article written by Marie Ollivier<\/a>
Thanks to In\u00e8s Allag and Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica Mej\u00eda C\u00e1ceres for answering our questions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rethinking the way we learn and teach. Meet two women involved in educational engineering and innovation at the Institut des D\u00e9fis.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"25","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,25],"tags":[39,45],"class_list":["post-2045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-education","tag-enseignement-superieur","tag-institut-des-defis"],"acf":[],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}