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Information
Project Europe, Education and School
Website : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee.php Information : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee080205Fr.in.pdf
Initiated by Club de Philosophie http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/
Pedagogical responsibility : [email protected] Technical responsibility : [email protected]
Lycée de Sèvres, http://www.ac-versailles.fr/etabliss/lyc-sevres/
21, rue du Dr Ledermann, 92310 Sèvres, France Regional Centre for Pedagogical Documentatin at the academy of Versailles
http://www.crdp.ac-versailles.fr/ Inspectorate of philosophy at th academy of Versailles
e-Twinning partnership with
Dzukija school, Alytus, Lithuania : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_lituanie01.php
Lycée classique L. A. Muratori de Modène, Italy :
http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_It_lam.php
Lycée n° VII de Peristeri, Greece : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_el_lpa.php
Gymnazium J. G. Tajovskeho, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_slovaquie.php
Lycée Matyas Lerch, Brno, Czech Republic :
http://www.gml.cz/fr/index.htm
and in cooperation with : Centre Culturel Français in Vilnius, Lithuania :
http://www.centrefrancais.lt/index.php
Lithuanian circle of francophone students in Vilnius : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_lit_clef.php
Institut Français in Warsaw, Poland :
http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eeeIFV.php
Lycée n° X Narcyzy Zmichowskiej in Warsaw, Poland : http://www.zmichowska.pl/bienvenue.html
Institut Français in Prague :
http://www.ifp.cz/ifp/pubFR/home/Main/index.jet
Gimnazium Munkacsy of Kaposvar in Hungary : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_txtKS01hu.php
Video clip (in Fr):mms://melies.ac-versailles.fr/etabliss/lyc-sevres/eee/theclip.wmv
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Questions
1. Please describe your project (what did you do and how).
In coordination with its partners, our project : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee080205En.in.pdf seeks to question and debate in depth the role of schools and education in the future of Europe. Indeed, no-one could deny the interaction between culture and politics. Politics depends on the quality of the education offered to citizens; in return, culture is always fed by the political conditions according to which a person tries to educate her/himself. To this end, we created a website (http://www.coin-philo.net) in 2001-2002, complete with a forum for video and chatroom discussion (http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/salon/). This allows us to have long distance interaction with our partners and to prepare together two or three conferences a year, hosted in live video form on the web, bearing on one of the project’s themes. To foster in pupils an idea of culture both literary and historical, the Philosophy Club of the lycée de Sèvres invites a speaker once or twice a year. Conjointly, we experiment with video-conference techniques, as provided by the Regional Centre for Pedagogical Documentation of Versailles Academy, to broadcast live and publish online the debates undertaken with our partners. We took our our first steps in this field at a talk given by Jean-Pierre Vernant, Honorary Professor at the Collège de France, on the subject of the myth of Pandora : http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/vernant.htm
04/11/03 : pupils and teachers of the lycée
J.-P. Vernant, C. Michalewski
and a debate with Henri Pena-Ruiz, professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Paris, on the topic of schools and secularity: http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/ Download : http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/telecharge/penaruiz.wmv
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Contributors to this debate on schools: - The lycée J.-J Rousseau of Sarcelles, near Paris : the class of Philippe Touchet
Ph. Touchet and H. Pena-Ruiz
The pupils of Ph. Touchet and C. Michalewski
- The school Dzukija d’Alytus, Lithuania – in particular the class of Vilija Susinskiene (read the pupils’ comments : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_txtlit.reli.php; and see the account of the video-conference by the Lithuanian Press : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_txtlit.news03.php) - The Gymnazium J. G. Tajovskeho, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia See the comments by the pupils of Jana Matulayova : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_slovaquielaic.php.
- The Gimnazium Munkacsy de Kaposvar, Hungary : the class of Eszter Sarkany http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_hongrie00.php
In 2003-2004, the first Philosophy Club found its first European partners, in Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The club then progressively became the project Europe, Education, School (http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee-langues.php). Three of our partners then announced their partnership under the auspices of the e-Twinning movement started in January 2004. Soon after, the following schools joined the project : the liceo Muratori of Modena and the lycée VII of Peristeri (http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_fhlpst00.php). In 2004-2005, we all - including francophone students assembled in the varions French Cultural Centres of Vilnius, Warsaw and Prague – played a very active part in the preparation of our dissertation on Europe. This work culminated in a debate-conference, with Alexandre Adler, a historian and expert in International Relations, on the subject of the Birth of a European Conscience. (See the list of participants : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee.nce.part.pdf). Organised and broadcast live on the internet on 17th March 2005 (a day celebrating the Spring Day in Europe : http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe), this was for us a moment of intense reflection on Europe, past, present and future, as you can see from these excerpts of commentary from Greece (http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee-txt.Politis.Eu.php) and Italy (http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee-jour.eu.lam.pdf). The entirety of this meeting is available on DVD and can also be downloaded at http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/telecharge/confadler.wmv.
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Pupils of Alytus, and Alexandre Adler.
from left to right : A. Adler,
Fr. Zanaret, Director, C. Michalewski,
J.-L. Gaffard and the control room of CRDP
Pupils and teachers of the lycée de Sèvres
For a more detailed breakdown of this meeting, see : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-spring-170305.php. The school year 2004-2005 concluded with a last debate, held on 9th May 2005 – Europe Day – with Slovakian students and a Franco-Polish parliamentarian on the question : What does it mean to be European ?
Ch. Damaggio, TS pupil, chat supervisor
Guest speakers with teachers and pupils
A more complete breakdown is available at : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee-jour.eu.00.php
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Whatever may be the current political difficulties of the Constitutional Treaty, our project is first a nd foremost a pedagogical and cultural one. Thus, in 2005-2006 we will offer our partners a video conference-debate with Bernard Bourgeois, member of the Institut (http://www.asmp.fr/fiches_academiciens/bourgeois_oeuvres.htm), on the theme, ‘Educating Europe’. This will be broadcast live on 20th March 2006, at 2pm. Two further encounters are scheduled : one with Philippe Fontaine on 26st January for a conference on Education and Psychoanalysis : http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/direct/ http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_educ-psy.php , and the other with the French Cultural Centre of Vilnius for a discussion on the philosopher Levinas, at 2 pm on 9th May 2006. If the Philosophy Club had greater technical autonomy, it could also show on the internet its annual programme of debate evenings in town, such as the one with André Comte-Sponville, on Globalisation :
The philosophy evening of 8th February 2005 brought together 270-300 people
See an account of the conference, as written by Marie-Anne Amar : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/dictionnaire/dic.mondialisation.php The programme for 2005-2006 : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/info_pro.soirees05-06.php The archives of the Philosophy Evenings, and of the project Europe, Education, School : http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/archives%20du%20projet-eee04-05.php http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/info_pro.soirees04-05.php http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/info_pro.soirees.php We still have a number of technical difficulties to see to. These are partly due to the fact that our partners do not have the requisite materials and, perhaps, sufficient experience in the handling of new technologies. It would doubtless be useful if, beyond our long distance discussions, we were able to meet up occasionally to pool our problems and solutions. In the meantime, we start each school year by settling into a rhythm of weekly Internet exchanges, in order to keep the project going and to enable the students to know each other a little better each week. These periods of preparation of the video-conferences, punctuated by TICE meetings every Thursday morning (http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/salon/) and fed by exchanges of messages, video communication and message boards, and the publication of break-downs (http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee_txt_reflex.php), allow us to create a unique pedagogical relationship. Being multilateral, long-term and diverse, this international relationship makes possible a real examination of the questions we are treating.
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2. What did the European project bring to your students, school and yourself that could not have been achieved in other ways? This type of project jostles some of the pedagogical traditions of the schools concerned. Organising a video conference, to which several schools participate from a long distance, or simply introducing TICE computer sessions in timetables – this necessarily creates a certain number of practical problems to be solved. Technical equipment and minimal knowledge of e-communication techniques are needed, for instance. Of course, these are becoming more simple and accessible, but they still require a team to work them. But beyond the disturbance and the organisational issues it incurs, it seems to me undeniable that such an experience of multilateral cooperation brings not only exceptional open-mindedness, but promotes within each school the emergence of sometimes unsuspected skills. It provides a chance for all types of talents and creative resources to come to the fore. These skills, indispensable for the success of a video conference, for example, reward the contribution of each participant and sometimes renew the idea one might have of a pedagogical relationship. In this kind of event, the contribution of a pupil may be just as important or pertinent as the teacher’s. For my part, it is always with great esteem that I mention my debt to certain pupils or ex-pupils who have given an impetus to our project and lain its technological foundations. At a time of their life when, sometimes, they have a tendency to doubt their abilities and worth, it is a great opportunity for pupils to take part in an project which comes to fruition. As for the teacher I am, this project may have given me the chance to address a phrase of Plato’s, who said about education that it should “produce with the utmost easiness and efficacy a change of orientation”. Yes, it is important to be able to change one’s way of seeing, including one’s way of working and teaching! Taking the risk of innovation, opening up without prejudice to the differences one could encounter in such a project: this is hardly the “easy” choice! But a successful partnership often gives the sense that together everything is easier. The organisation of this project centered principally on the theme of ‘education’ risks having an educational effect on those who are in charge of it. 3. Do you have unusual experiences you would like to share? The driving idea behind our decision to start a Philosophy Club in 2001 was to create a place to enable pupils to participate in and discuss, with no distinctions between levels or sections, projects making them consider culture and the current historical situation. But we were greatly surprised when we became aware that in a lycée such as ours, which numbers nearly 1800 pupils, it was practically impossible to find a common time slot in the timetables of different classes to allow them to participate regularly in the Club’s activities. The club therefore appeared to be condemned to remain a concept, with no possibility of development and thus no future. Indeed, how could we work together without ever meeting each other? What future can there be for an idea if we never have the chance to debate it together? The answer was suggested to me by a
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pupil: “imagine long distance discussions”; “let’s create an internet site so as to have a permanent platform for communication, with a forum for discussion”. Of course, we were warned of all the possible dangers of such an endeavour, and against the hazards of giving pupils uncontrolled freedom of expression. At the time I was myself concerned at this thought, thinking that nothing could really replace the physical presence of a teacher and his/her relationship to the pupil. I still believe this is true, in fact, but I did not foresee at the time the style of relationships which would become possible within the Philosophy Club, nor the originality of the new discussions which would take place there. If the word ‘experience’ refers in part to the notion of ‘essay’’, in the sense of something whose outcome is unsure, and therefore brings to mind the idea of ‘danger’, or a ‘dangerous journey’, then our adventure on the internet has indeed been an ‘experience’. It is an experience which removes us so far from the ‘well known’ and our scholarly and pedagogical ‘habits’, that we haven’t finished discovering its potential or measuring its impact. With this means of communication not only were we able to launch our project locally, but its posting on the e-Twinning portal allowed it to develop in a European context. Our partners are growing in number and want to take an equal part in this ‘experience’ which, within our individual practices, is new territory to us all. And, actually, there was no real ‘danger’ of the unknown to fear! We are doubtless still only at the start of this interaction, made possible by ICT, which, as we saw earlier in the Lithuanian sequence, enable a pupil who lives at the other end of Europe to discuss violence in history with one of the best specialists in International Relations, from her classroom. It is already quite unusual to procure this sort of experience to one’s own pupils within the framework of their own class and school, but it is even more unusual really to share such an experience with pupils and schools who are very distant in space but brought together by the will to learn and debate. 4. What would you do differently if you were to re-do the project? At the beginning we thought, probably somewhat naively, that we would be able to add other elements to our interaction tools on the internet, during the video-conferences, such as short films on the different educational systems in Europe, featuring interviews with pupils, teachers, parents and administrators. A film crew was ready to visit our partners, not only to help them install the video accounts opened at Versailles in their name, but to involve them in the production of these documents, with the aim of improving pupils’ knowledge of their partners and feed our live debates. However, these films have not been made, as yet, due to a lack of funding, and the setting up of video accounts for our partners is very laborious. I don’t know if, concerning the financial aspect of the project, the future holds any surprises for us, or if we will have to content ourselves with what works for us at the moment. We have to recognise, though, that the project’s development doesn’t quite conform to our earlier forecasts, but this in no way dents our determination to carry it through.
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5. Which tools did you use to collaborate? If you were to change them, which ones would you then use and why?
We have been able to hold these long-distance exchanges, which are of a completely new kind, thanks to the ICT and our steadfast partnership with the Regional Centre for Pedagogical Documentation of the académie de Versailles. The latter provided us with platforms and technical know-how, by hosting our site on their academic web page, by creating personalised interfaces tailored to the project’s specific needs, such as synchronised video/chat encounters, forums, online digital creations, etc… The support and dedication of its teams really allowed us to test our project’s feasibility, and perhaps to find its exact identity. What chiefly characterises the research and choice of tools proposed, is that they are free and simple to use for all our partners. This infra-structure, using Windows Media, enabled a first contact to take place, wherein everyone simultaneously and in different locations finds himself/herself an actor in a common project. Technological advances mean that in the short term we can envisage new servers which would reinforce these weekly encounters and the sharing of documents, such as Flash Com Server and Quick Place.
6. How did the project link to the curriculum in your country? Did it also link to the curriculum in the partner country?
In France, philosophy is taught in the final year of lycée: its aim is to provide pupils with new means of training and exercise independently of their own thoughts. Taking the initiative of creating a Philosophy Club, we asked our fellow teachers of Literature, History, Arts and Languages, including those of the International Sections of the lycée, to work with us with the aim of promoting culture and thought on some essential points related to school. In this way, we thought we could abolish – at least symbolically, for the duration of a conference – the traditional barriers between various disciplines, sections, even classes, and facilitate interaction and reciprocal acquaintance. Though the spirit of our project is essentially philosophical, in that it promulgates dialogue and a critical approach, its subject and even its form are necessarily multidisciplinary – its preoccupations are shared by many colleagues desirous of participating in an innovative pedagogical exercise. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that even without a prior investigation into the programmes of our partners, we spontaneously found a great community of interests, both cultural and educational though our project. We must therefore believe that the idea of culture, in its sense of acceptance of the different and the unfamiliar, is still very strong today. Culture is able to unite not only local enterprises, but also the aspirations and contributions of the most disparate European colleagues who, for the most part, recognise in each other the same educational ideals. It is my impression that the school curricula of our partners, beyond certain inevitable local peculiarities, are infused with the same spirit, and answer the same demand: to make school a place of culture, allowing students to acquire the means of a real autonomy of judgment and learn to engage with society at large.
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7. Why, in your opinion, did you succeed with your project? Which good experiences of European collaboration you would like to pass on?
I believe that the success of this project, at least in its initial phase, is due to the determination of our partners who managed to overcome their first technological difficulties in working with ICT – aided in this by the French Cultural Centres and the tireless assistance of the Regional Centre for Pedagogical Documentation of the académie de Versailles. The project works, also, because it enriches the participants with an exceptional openness of mind which transforms the style of our usual pedagogical interactions. These have changed from “vertical” to “horizontal”, inasmuch as they favour communication and the birth of new dynamics. Encouraged by this inaugural success in Sèvres, we would now like to become more autonomous from a technical point of view, so as to be in charge of our future encounters, no doubt more and more diverse, with our European colleagues. We are waiting for a financial aid from the regional council of Ile de France to equip our conference room with a permanent control room which would allow any subject to try and put in place their own exchange programmes in the language of their choice. We would like our partners to be on the same technological level as us as soon as possible. We could then have the pleasure of actively participating in the preparation of a conference-debate, broadcast live on the internet, with all of our partners in turn. Our primary objective would then be attained. This “experience” of a shared responsibility, not only from a technical point of view but also and especially from the point of view of the cultural and intellectual content: that is what seems good to me, and what should be made possible very soon. Sèvres, 14th September 2005 Czeslaw Michalewski, philosophy teacher at the lycée de Sèvres [email protected] Jean-Luc Gaffard, Centre Régional de Documentation Pédagogique de Versailles [email protected]
Translation : Caspar Salmon
