the la main à la pâte program (france) : hands-on science for all david jasmin, la main à la...

The La main à la pâte program (France) : Hands-on science for all

David Jasmin, La main à la pâte, France

Académie des sciences – National Institute for Pedagogical Research – Ecole normale supérieure

ISSA conference (Bratislava), 26– 28 October 2006

David Jasmin, ISSA conference, Bratislava (Slovaquia), 26– 28 october 20062

Outline

French context

what is La main à la pâte?

Focus on underprivileged children

How to succeed in changing teaching practices ?

An European network : POLLEN


French context


French Context

Primary education• 61 000 primary schools• 350 000 classes• Kindergarten: 99.5% of the 3 –

6 years old• Elementary: 100 % of the 6 –

11 years old

Primary school teachers• Polyvalent teachers (same

teacher for all subjects)• Recruited at levels high school

+0 (1960s) to high school +5 (1993)

• 80 % literary


A brief history of La main à la pâte

Situation in France in 1995• Focus on reading/ writing/ counting

– 4 hours/week for– Science– History/Geography– Civic education

• Sciences in < 3% classes– Often biology– Frontal pedagogy

• Rare in training sessions• No experiment material at the school• No link with scientific community


La main à la pâte


A brief history of La main à la pâte (2)

1995 – 1996• Georges Charpak : small scale experimentation in 344 classes

1998• Publication of the reference 10 principles as a simple guide for

teachers.• Launch of the La main à la pâte Website

2000• The experimentation has expanded to over 5 000 classes• The Ministry launch an official Plan for quality science teaching

2002• New official Curriculum inspired by La main à la pâte

2003• Book of 7 examples for teachers

2004• Book of examples for trainers

2006• ~ 35 % teachers teach science with an active pedagogy


General philosophy of La main à la pâte

Science as an inquiry, as an investigation

Something pupils do, not something that is done for them

Teacher helps pupils to built their own knowledge

Emphasis is put on • Interrogation• Action• Experimentation• collective reconstruction• not on learning statements to be

memorized!

Pupils get a deeper understanding when they try to present in an oral or written (science notebook) way their conclusion and to confront the with experimental results


The benefits expected from this approach to Science

The real world behaves often in an unsuspecting way and resists to children (they need some reasoning, they acquire habits of thinking)

Developing a critical thinking and a sense of dialogue (one must recognize his errors and it’s better to reach a consensus than to impose his ideas)

Mastering the languages (how to communicate the results of their observations, how to create a graph, a table of data, how to formulate, alone and with others, conclusions of their work : vocabulary, syntax, time)

Overcoming the social barriers (people coming from different social groups observe the same phenomena, they learn the importance of discussion, of common efforts to solve a problem) : good introduction to citizenship and to democratic life.


Underprivileged children


Immigrants, mix of cultural/religious backgroundsGypsies (Perpignan), Turks, Maghreb (Around 40 foreign origins in certain county ( for instance 93 in Paris area…)Handicaps

Physical : deaf childrenMental : special classes

But EVERY CHILD Universality of curiosity Nature is the same for every child, reality provides a common referenceCognitive development of brain may be identical


Universality of scienceFirst science statements made with common language wordsExperience with senses (touch, view, hear…) precedes wordsRich empirical knowledge of the family background

Fighting the violenceNature = a common objectReplace the pulsion of agression by the pulsion of knowingUse of language : rational argumentation


Facing a lot of difficulties…


Teachers fear to teach sciences

« I don’t know / I’m not a scientist »• Afraid of doing experimental work

Using active pedagogy• changing their position in the classroom• Afraid of saying « I do not know » to children• Afraid of losing the control of the classroom:

– allowing the children to speak– putting the children in groups– Keep things in order, buying material…

Hierarchy is not always convinced that science teaching is useful


Teacher’s conception of science

Teacher’s interest for science is high

Conception of science often primitive, sometimes negative• Results from teacher’s secondary

education• Broken in narrow disciplines, without

integrated view


What to do ?


Key issues for innovating sciences

Pilot centers• Learning units + material kits • Learning teacher coaching (ideas, information, advises…)• Scientific partnership• Community participation

Internet Websites (www.inrp.fr/lamap)• Resources for teachers & trainers• Exchanges with scientists and trainers

Training• teaching practice• scientific concepts

Large scale diffusion• Publishers • Curricula• Science academy• radio, TV, press


Principles

General information among the society

Locally produced resources to teachers

Scientific and pedagogic coaching

Linking teachers - trainers – scientists - familly

Open source content and free services

Innovative and motivated projects


10 years birthday !

In 10 years : science in 3% 35 % classesTeacher training and coaching is the main issue for generalizationScientist can play an essential role, by:• Accompanying teachers• Training• Taking part in writing “official” books (guides for

teachers and for trainers)

For an effective impulsion and coordination, Academy of sciences, Ministry of Education and local authorities have to work hand in hand


An international network


AfghanistanQuebecMexicoHaiti

Morocco Algeria

China Vietnam S. Korea Malaysia

Sri Lanka

Senegal Gabon

Lebanon Egypt

Madagascar Mauritius

Belgium

Hands-on

La main à la pâte

Colombia Brazil Chile

Serbia Romania Slovaquia

Associated countries

Direct collaborations

Inquiry based science in the World


A grass root project

The development of Seed cities for science, with schools as the starting point for the participation of the whole local community.The implementation of innovative, hands-on science education activities at the school level.The development of a sustainable framework to ensure the involvement of the scientific community and other local actors.The study of important social aspects directly concerning science education (10 key issues...).The creation of a European charter for cities aiming at the development of science education in primary schools. Demonstration of the sustainability and efficiency of the Seed city approach to stakeholders and national educative authority. Communication and dissemination are key factors for the success of Pollen.


Key issues

Low-income areas (Belgium)Children with special needs (Estonia)Involvement of the scientific community (France) Gender issues (Germany)Children participation (Italy) Use of ICT in learning process (Netherlands) Family involvement (Portugal)Immigrants (Spain)Transition from primary to secondary school (Sweden) Cross-disciplinary approaches (United Kingdom)Science education in new member States (Hungary and Slovenia).


What happens in a Seed city ?

- Coordination team (coordinator + trainer).- A community board of local partners (museums, city hall, associations…).- An average of 50 participating classes, which receive :

- basic scientific equipment.- training and tutoring for the teachers, to implement hands-on activities in the class.- support from the coordination for common activities.- assessment and evaluation


Guide for coordinators


Guide for trainers


Guide for teachers


Learning units

Title Age

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Water in the nursery school

Where does bread come from?

The weather - Meteorology

Is air matter

A seed, a plant?

Our body in movement

Vaporisation - Condensation


Pollen website : www.pollen-europa.net

http://www.pollen-europa.net/

Appendix


The 10 principles of La main à la pâte

Children observe & experiment on real, close objects/phenomena.

Children argue and reason, share ideas, build knowledge.

Teacher proposes activities organized in sequences, leaving ample space for children autonomy.

Spend a minimum of 2 hours/week on same theme, for several weeks. Ensure continuity over the 5-6 years of elementary school.

Have children keep their Experiment Notebook with their own words.

Aim to an appropriation of scientific concepts/procedures along with a language (oral & written) acquisition.

Associate family & neighborhood.

Scientific partners to accompany the action.

Involve the trainers : learning by doing.

Create Internet resources & exchanges : www.inrp.fr/lamap


La main à la pâte partners

INRP


Science education in France

Académie des sciencesINRP

Ecole normale supérieure

Ministry ofeducation

Curricula

• Internet Site• Resources Centers• Pilot Center • Resources

Teachers training (IUFM)

350 000 classes(61 000 schools)

Scientific community


Discussion list exchanges

Message 1 :Hello,I am a teacher in grade 5 and we just started to study objects animated by the wind. Here are some of them : a windmill, the kind of mills you can find in funfairs, weathercocks, preferably " solid " ; kites that would be attached to big sticks in order to float, non-stuffed scarecrows… You can also use your imagination.Pupils also found for me plans in revision books, like Hatier, Hachette…Good luck for your " planting "Agnès

Message 2 :Hello,I would advise you to go have a quick look on the website from the Paul Bert school in SENS.A complete work on " air, wind " has been carried out by these colleagues (NB : an article in the excellent magazine Moniteur92 (consulting address below) about the website)CordiallyMichel Le journal des nouvelles technologies à l'écolehttp://www.crdp.ac-versailles.fr/cddp92/monit92/default.htm


Questions to scientists

QuestionWithin the framework of manipulations about water, we made steam by heating water with 6-year olds. During the elaboration of the account, the children were willing to write: "the steam escapes and disappears in the air". The last remark bothers me in the way that after holding a glass over the steam, the children saw that there was condensation… What else can we say but " the steam disappears in the air " ?

Jean Basdevant, researcher at the Ecole Polytechnique answers the question by e-mail within 48 hours...Hello, The children are always right. The steam disappears effectively; that is to say we don't see it any longer, it no longer "appears". The steam is a gaz composed with water that mixes to the air and that we don't see (like we don't see perfume we can smell in the air, though it has a color in the bottle). Water, thus mixed with air, can reappear as tiny drops, like in clouds or condensing over a glass, if the conditions help, for example if it is cold. Have a look at your kettle. The "steam" that comes out of it is visible. It condenses in droplets of water at its contact with the air around that is colder when it is dense, but then it gets diluted and… it disappears.It can also reappear by condensation on the windows or on the ceiling. Carry out the experiment to leave your glass near the steam for a long time. After some time, the steam will not condense on it any longer, because it will have heated up. I think there is confusion between " steam " that come out from steam-machines that you can see because it is condensed water, and real water steam that is water in a gaseous state like butane.


Questions to trainers

QuestionWhat experiments can I carry out about salt marshes with 3 to 5 year olds ?

Answer from Elisabeth Plé , trainer at the IUFM from Reims, center of Troyes, by e-mail within 48 hours...You can make yourself a small salt marsh by putting sea water (since you live in La Rochelle) to evaporate. You will then look for ideal conditions for the evaporation to work. Of course, in kindergarten, it is not possible to consider a separation of factors, but you can try to find a solution to " spread out " water under the sun, like in a salt marsh. For example, you can put the water under the sun in plates or iron biscuit box tops. The operation takes a long time.You can also try to find with the children other ways to heat water. For them, the sun takes the water away , " drinks it " ; the representation of the sun as a source of heat is not immediate. It is an obstacle to know about when you want to carry out this type of work. When you get over it, you can heat the sea water in a sauce pan and get the white powder that appears, miraculously for the children. It is also interesting to " make " sea water and to get back the salt you put in it. You work on the (visible) disappearance of the salt by adding water, and then the reappearance by evaporation (in the saucepan).The progression. If the children from your class in La Rochelle are not very familiar with salt marshes, it might as well be interesting to carry out researches in class, to become a salt producer, and then to go visit the salt marsh. The children will then ask questions to a specialist with " producer questions ". They have a better view of the small-scale and industrial making process.

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