How to offer in all its integrity, dynamism, exceptional sensitivity, the anonymous art class, moving testimony of an educational and human reality? We talked this summer of our limitations imposed by poverty, always faithful companion of our projects so often by his grip, destined to fail. Yet, feeling rich, we launched the idea of ??our […]
How to offer in all its integrity, dynamism, exceptional sensitivity, the anonymous art class, moving testimony of an educational and human reality? We talked this summer of our limitations imposed by poverty, always faithful companion of our projects so often by his grip, destined to fail. Yet, feeling rich, we launched the idea of ??our Regional Museums of Art Childish, already out of the dream to become reality.
And we were talking about books on the expression of children’s art and that, added to each other, would demonstrate that we really expanded, enriched and deepened this noble word education. These days, I’ve been thinking this idea still so far from an original edition naturally out of a class at work. St.
Cado me appeared there a few years as a monument to be taken in its entirety: Hortense, her young Britons, sea fishing, it was a unique world to grasp in all its human density revealed by the beautiful pictures, poems, songs, dramatic play, children ceramics, presence of an exceptional educator and all these riches were Breton through and through until this edge so tenuous that the happiness and suffering flicker into one another to signify the drama of life in all its sharpness. For me it was a sight I will never forget.
And here only an hour where I have so many reasons to despair, life brings me again generously ripened harvest in the wake of St. Cado and deliver me of a sudden all the wealth of the City of employees in Perpignan. This is Odile Salvat takes over, and so profuse is the harvest this time I tell myself: you have to go! must be put within the reach of all these kind of values, this wealth of life that has a thousand faces, a thousand sense and meaning in both languages: life.
After Saint-Cado and other school employees deserve to even be magnified. We will not be spoiled for choice. We would intend to launch soon a Club Art Childish who deliver at highly discounted special rates, a collection of original albums in deluxe edition, no publisher to date can not occur because he always miss the spring that feeds the endless stream of art that flows from each of our schools, we would like very many comrades are telling us what they think of this achievement, which could also think people who out of education could possibly subscribe to such publication.
If we were assured of a sufficient number of subscribers – 1500 at least – we could move quickly to implementation. To read to you, my comrades. Write to Elise Freinet, ICEM Cannes. ELISE FREINET http://www.icem-freinet.fr/archives/educ/64-65/7-8/23-25.pdf
In: The Educator CEL For teachers review French> Oral Language Arts> Music and sound pedagogical principles> communication in December 1964 http://www.icem-freinet.fr/archives/educ/64-65/7-8/17 -22.pdf
In: Congress secularism The Educator CEL For teachers review educational principles> Cooperation in January 1965 General theme: The secular school, site of democracy by C. FREINET During our various Congress, we have defined our role by a formula which no longer contests the scope: Training in child Human tomorrow.
Obviously, it will be easy to argue that we are not doing as well as back the question because that devra- be the Man of Tomorrow? What is certain is that it is more we can predict, ten years in advance, natural, physiological situations, technical and social which today’s children will face when, in five to ten years it will become a man.
We can no longer, as before, to prepare a particular function, but we can grow intelligently knowledge and skills so that he can, in all circumstances, respond with maximum efficiency. What changes the same data pedagogy. It is this difference of purpose which explains and justifies the reconsiderations that the Modern School brings to traditional pedagogy whose failure is now obvious. *** But there is one aspect of the problem we would especially like to emphasize.
When we say our conquests natural reading method, the traditional school says still competitive; she teaches us even faster than the mechanical. She excels in learning grammatical rules that we seek the mind more than form. In calculating also a dressage can do some illusion time. It’s just if we dare to say that in all these areas, as for exams awarded by the nuns, we can do as well as the traditional school.
So where would the superiority of Modern School and what really traditional school has she gone bankrupt? It is this school, less than ever, is concerned about the formation of man and citizen. It endows the unusable Knowledge child, obsolete techniques, it imposes superficial practices of repetition, memorization and servile obedience, she did not teach him to live in society, cooperatively, but to obey and serve.
And then wonder that, armed with such viatical, our teenagers are neither men nor citizens, or that, wanting, despite we become, they sometimes violently rebel against parents and teachers who all simply failed to teach them to live, a traditional school, originally created to train docile servants able to serve a cultured bourgeoisie, and even use of the same tools she had patiently forged, we want to replace the School that will help Democrats tomorrow to make the society of their dreams, which will exclude the exploitation of man by man. It would seem that such a project should obtain the agreement of all democrats and all qu’apparaitraient as suspicious a priori a school that was founded by our class enemies, the tools and methods we have suffered enough, a inspired discipline of the Jesuits is the very negation of democratic education.
Alas! in the late twentieth century, while neutrons, atoms, the electronic machines have revolutionized our conceptions; just when the man is about to land on the Moon or Mars, teachers, books in hand, in front of their students idly, reciting texts are, teach concepts, get homework help with
impose rhythms dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth century! And even worse, the masses of teachers politically supporters of liberating democracy, even raise their children in schools for anti-secular and anti-democratic practices!
And that’s just if we can expose this fact without incurring the resentment of those who remain conscious or unconscious actors. We dare. Plenary Session 1. During a first plenary session, we first will target the trial of the traditional school: – The tools used – in this particular case the textbook – they are valid and effective? – The instruction understood intelligently acquired knowledge, intelligence developed, they are not by themselves an indisputable achievements of the school?
These are the questions that we will look very objectively: – The instruction is she good conduct? – Are the knowledge acquired intelligently? – Intelligence, in its various aspects, is it developed? And ultimately we will ask the crucial question: A method is or intelligent or stupefying. In the first case it is encouraged.
In the second case it is not recommended as an obstacle and a danger. Most of the time, all methods are mixed, 
with intelligent portion and a portion stupefying. For us to gradually eliminate the bad in favor of constructive and formative.
But, according to our practice, we will refrain from carrying forward any conviction. We will let the facts speak. So start looking for facts. first survey: Textbooks Textbooks are between two other crippling defects – they are not written in a language accessible to children; – they often pretend to teach rules and syntheses, and starting with what would normally be the conclusion of the study.
