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Accrochage 15-16 ans
Accrochage 15-16 ans
Start date: Sep 1, 2014,
End date: Aug 31, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
The context of the project: In our school ? as is also the case in other schools ? we are facing an increase in the number of failures among the pupils between ages 15 and 16. Following this internal concern and at the instigation of the ?Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles?, we were encouraged to create in 2011 a think tank on the well-being at school. A new research group was then formed from those meetings and from the sharing based on the difficulties of our young people and the risks of dropping out. Thus, a pilot project ? conducted by about ten teachers ? was launched in May 2012. Our founding idea: ?Catching On? rather than remedying ?Dropping Out? or, in other words, conducting a research which can involve the pupils in their learning and in their life at school.
Our goals were to propose a different organization of the learning times, but also to create a formative process and an individual support for the pupils, as well as to facilitate the transition from the third to the fourth grade of secondary school (Belgian reference), in particular thanks to ?transversal? learning sessions supporting two classes of 15-16-year-old pupils (depending on the disciplines or on the involved classes). Those concerns dovetail with the missions assigned to School by the ?Décret Missions? (?Mission? decree): personality development of the young person, social emancipation for everybody, participatory and responsible citizenship, development of the skills which can be relevant to society.
The teachers participating in our project are an illustration of the multiplicity of the profiles of the adults from our school: bachelor?s degrees, master?s degrees, previous careers in the private sector or not, taught disciplines, tutors for vocational training, senior lecturers, educators, psychologists.
All the involved staff takes part in the support of two classes of 15-16-year-old pupils.
For two years, the activities « research ? action » appropriate for 15-16-year-old pupils have drawn their inspiration from whole-institution pedagogy.
Firstly, an attempt to change the 50-minute learning times into a weekly pattern divided into three times.
- Learning times: disciplinary / interdisciplinary workshops, personal work (at least ¾ of the time/schedule).
-Expression times: oral interventions to improve learning: ?What?s New? sections, ?I?m fine/ I?m not fine?.
-Decision times: class councils with the participation of the pupils, per class and/or per level, chairmanship, secretarial work and other responsibilities assumed by the members.
Secondly, a reflection on the assessment: formative / certificative, positive learning outcomes via a portfolio, interdisciplinary, communication and readability for the parents, support for the pupils via Practice Based Individual Learning (PBIL) thanks to intermediary teachers.
Thirdly, through isomorphism, the methodology the staff uses during its weekly meetings/consultations also takes root in the whole-institution pedagogy.
Currently, in terms of development, our project is oriented towards a formative stage for the adults. Besides, we feel the need for internationalization so as to share expertise and field experiences. Furthermore, this pedagogy has the particularity of encouraging exchanges, not only between practitioners, but also between learners via the socialization of production. This is the reason why, with the advent of Europe, the opportunity offered by those international exchanges seems essential to us.
In conclusion, in the short term, our first aim is the finalization of our ?Catching On? system which has been undertaken for two years. In the medium term, our goal is to influence the whole level or even a course of study in our school. Eventually, in the long term, we hope to develop some other partnerships so as to add foreign language skills to our project.