Science Festival: rally of students from CUFR in Dembeni

At least nine workshops were offered to middle and high school students as well as elementary school students. For example, there were workshops “I hydrate myself, I eat”, “Our microbial friends”, “Nutritional supplements” and even “Sports and society”. They were all led by CUFR students and future teachers who chose the workshops based on the theme: “Sports and Health”.

“These are students with a bachelor’s degree who will soon take the competitive exam to become teachers, or those with a master’s degree who have already earned it. Hence, they are destined to become primary or secondary teachers,” notes Colette Gillon, educational director of the master’s degree program. The second MEEF (Teaching Professions, Education and Training) and the Integrated Work and Study Programme. They have organized everything with their teachers regarding the selection of workshops and activities as well as the welcome of the students.

Also within the “Sports and Health” workshop, for example, the importance of eating well was clearly mentioned. “You should not neglect your body and respond to its needs when it is needed in order to provide it with energy and avoid fatigue,” the student insists to the attentive young audience. Exercising also helps improve your health. He adds: “Everyone can exercise, regardless of age, gender or physical condition.”

Mock-up training for the teaching profession

Also among the students, many of them realized that they had a specific vocabulary, which was not necessarily adapted to their audience. “We realize that some young students don’t understand what we’re saying…so we have to find other words or other ways to make them understand certain experiences. This trains us when we are alone in front of the class,” analyzes one of the master’s students.

In fact, MSc students at MEEF already have a foot in the door in teaching because they are regularly in front of students in the form of a work-study programme. In the first year of their master’s degree, they have three probation courses during the year, one in elementary school, one in middle school, and one in high school. They also spend two days a week in a classroom with a regular teacher who is their mentor. In the Master 2 programme, they are in charge of the classroom part-time, facing students alone but having regular exchanges with their teacher.

This day dedicated to the Science Festival, within the CUFR, will not only allow young students from all over the island to discover and learn many scientific things, but also to be aware of exercising, which is necessary to stay healthy. In addition, this will be an opportunity for future teachers in Mayotte to get to know their potential students by adapting their learning.

BJ