The school of change: filming alternative teaching methods

Confinement and the complexities of returning to school under health protocols remind us, if it were still necessary, of the importance of exchanges and the human links forged between teachers and children.

Sylvain Wagnon, University of Montpellier

Photo from Clara Bellar's 2014 film "Être et devenir", which tackles the issue of homeschooling. Copyright Cinéma Saint-André des Arts / Allociné

At a time when many people are wondering about the "next world ", calls for a renewal of pedagogies and school spaces are flourishing - for example, an article published in Le Monde calling for outdoor classes.

However, this need for new horizons did not emerge suddenly with confinement. It's an ambition of the alternative pedagogies that have been around since the early 20th century, and which are still very popular, as demonstrated by the craze for Montessori pedagogy.

How can we go beyond utopia, and understand this bubbling of ideas as real prospects for tomorrow? And what if cinema could help us chart concrete paths to explore? Here's a selection of documentaries that can help you see school from a different angle.

The school of change

In 2018, a documentary by Anne Schiffmann and Chergui Kharroubi, The School of Change focuses on two new secondary schools in Brussels that have opted for active teaching methods - i.e., moving away from a lecture-based approach in which students are simply listeners, to one in which they play an active role in their own learning. This choice is reflected in the words of one of the teachers featured in the film:

"What we want to do now is work where we talk in groups. We're not going to join the board where there would be the knowledge that I, a priori, am going to give you. We're going to look at each other because the knowledge is each one of us."

The filmmakers spent a year immersed in the schools, following the students' daily lives and bringing these pedagogies to life. One of the film's merits is that it does not confine itself to didactic knowledge of these pedagogies, which in reality form a galaxy, made up of multiple currents (Freinet, Montessori, Decroly or Steiner), with their own specificities.

Here, the filmmakers observe the transformations of an educational community, the hesitations and doubts of the teaching staff, but above all their commitment and enthusiasm. Far from being a fixed institution, the school appears to be an adventure.

Playing hooky

Still very much in the minority today, all alternative pedagogies are keen to make themselves known. From the beginning of the 20th century, they understood the importance of cinema. But it was fiction films that first brought these pedagogies to the attention of the general public.

In 1949, L'école buissonnièredirected by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, is a fictionalized account of the early life of pedagogue Célestin Freinet, played on screen by Bernard Blier. The screenplay was supervised by Elise Freinet herself, who was keen to spread Freinet's innovative pedagogical ideas.

More recently? in 2016, and in a much more "Hollywood" style, Captain Fantastic starring Viggo Mortensen put the spotlight on family instruction.

Showing school in a different light

Recently rediscovered, Vittorio de Seta's 1973 Italian film Le journal d'un maître d'école(The Diary of a Schoolmaster) was a forerunner in the skilful way of letting children play, work and create, while at the same time offering a glimpse of the caring pedagogical relationship between teacher and classroom that alternative pedagogies aim to develop.

Filming pedagogy in action is complex. How do you show children playing, thinking or marvelling? Yet there is a successful educational documentary genre. Nicolas Philibert's film, Etre et avoirin 2002, details the adventure of a single rural class in Auvergne.

Over the last ten years or so, we've seen a revival in this genre. Each alternative pedagogy understands the importance of showing the characteristics of its experiments. The point of view chosen is generally that of the promoters of the pedagogy in question, rather than that of critical analysis.

On Montessori, Freinet and home schooling, for example Etre et devenir by Clara Bellar, in 2014, L'école en vie by Mathilde Syre, in 2016, Le maître est l'enfant by Alexandre Mourot or Une idée folleby Judith Grumbach, in 2017, To be rather than to have by Agnès Fouilleux, in 2018.

Creativity and autonomy

These films all aim to tell the story of the enthusiasm, commitment and desire to teach thanks to alternative pedagogies.

Returning to L'école du changement, whose title is in itself a manifesto, the directors have succeeded in showing that rethinking school requires a multitude of small gestures, a benevolent and trusting gaze on the part of adults, and the pleasure of teaching to arouse children's boundless curiosity.

The film crew's immersion in the world of school life highlights important concepts such as autonomy and creativity, as they follow children and adults as they evolve together at their own pace.

The difficulty of all these films is to show the invisible part of the mental construction of learning. By observing children and teenagers thinking, reflecting, working in groups and on projects, we get a glimpse of the alternative schooling favored by alternative pedagogies.

Contrary to certain preconceived ideas, these films show the importance of the adult, of the pedagogical relationship, of parents, of respect for rules built together, as well as a demanding and rigorous approach to work that is not in contradiction with pleasure and well-being.

An educational and political project

Of course, these films are sympathetic accounts of these educational experiences. The pitfall would be to fall into an idealized vision and blind militancy. Criticism exists and must be taken into account by alternative pedagogies.

Some studies point to the difficulties and inequalities that active methods can create for certain pupils. Then there's the question of the social mix and the risk of such schools becoming a "social milieu". Of course, these films don't answer all these questions, and understanding the intentions and aims of an education that goes beyond mere rhetoric is a real challenge.




Also read:
Alternative pedagogies: a galaxy of varied political aims


Nevertheless, observing the pleasure of learning and teaching reflects the gap that exists between teaching based on the omnipotence of disciplinary knowledge and teaching in search of meaning. This should not prevent all alternative pedagogies from clarifying their social and political project, in order to know whether it will participate in the development of a new society. a wake-up call for a new education.The Conversation

Sylvain Wagnon, Professor of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Montpellier

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.