JM Blanquer relaunch science and technology plan

Amidst the turmoil in the place of science and mathematics in high school, JM Blanquer announced on February 2, during the La main à la pâte awards ceremony, a science and technology plan for primary schools. The intent is to promote science teaching in the school and to show that following the French and Mathematical plans, the minister does not forget about science. It is still necessary not to make mistakes in the training process. And there he did not win…

A plan based on expertise and partners

“Science begins in elementary school! With explicit teaching and experiments.” On Twitter, JM Blanquer announced the March 15 Science and Technology Plan Strategic Committee meeting. According to the Ministry of National Education, this plan is for school teachers and will be published at the beginning of the 2022 school year.

“The initiation of all students in the scientific approach, the development of their methodological thinking, the acquisition of basic knowledge and skills in science and technology from their first years of study, are the necessary conditions for training enlightened citizens of the future. And the realization of the way. Science is built and the differences between proven facts and beliefs, but also the emergence of calls future scientific and technological that will support this sovereignty,” The Ministry writes. “This plan will be published in a coordinated manner with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and this plan will benefit from the further mobilization of many partners already involved in various schemes including the “science with society and for society” strategy – institutions, universities and colleges, educated communities, but also Industrial players – who will be able to bring their expertise locally to contribute to the training of teachers, as well as support them in their science and technology projects.People who practice science are essential contributors to the motivation and achievement of the goals assigned to this education.

LaMap training failed

from his side, The dough hand is already taking its place For these trainings her networks “offer a selection of educational resources, programs and training for primary school teachers and coaches. The specificity of LaMap training is that teachers begin the investigation process As part of the role of science, created in 2012 with the support of National Education, La Map doubled the training Teachers, where each house brings together the universities, the directorate, and local companies, and they give training in science, and teach science based on the method of inquiry and carried out with scientists.which seems to correspond to what the Minister wishes.

Unfortunately The first evaluation of these training courses in 2017Conducted by Mark Jorgan (PSE) shows that the results are not there. Based on the observation of classroom practices and about 2,500 elementary students, the study shows a significant improvement in the knowledge of students whose teacher followed the LaMap course, compared to a control group. But training has no effect on students’ motivation or skills. Among the teachers, we observe no more manipulation among those who followed the course compared to the control group. What has changed is the increase in science hours among these elementary school teachers. In other words, the internship certainly made teachers want to do more science, but without changing their practices. It is this increase in the table that will lead to better knowledge. There will be no profound impact on teaching practices. For Mark Jorgan, it is precisely the call of scientists made by the partners that explains this failure.

What does Pisa say about science education?

It is similar to another assessment on science education. That’s from Pisa 2015. PISA results show that when teachers repeatedly explain and explain science concepts, and discuss student questions (a method of teaching generally referred to as teacher-directed instruction), students do better in science, and demonstrate stronger beliefs in the merits of scientific research (or beliefs) cognitive) and likely to consider pursuing a scientific career in adulthood,” the OECD wrote. “As surprising as it may seem, there is no education system in which students who report frequent exposure to inquiry-based teaching (which asks them to conduct experiments or practical work) will have higher science scores. After controlling for the socioeconomic status of students and schools, it is associated with Greater exposure to inquiry-based teaching decreases student achievement in science in 56 countries and generates savings.”

Will civic education be able to take these studies into account and resist the fashion of more than 10 years, which consists in bringing science together in a common path, encouraging the process of investigation and advocating for external partners? It seems that the “science and technology” plan will continue on this path. If you are not just a practical informational tool in this period.

Francois Jarrod