Debates 1 and 3

Axis 1 New education and socially-marked school failure

Debate 1 How to understand and fight school failure ? (CRAP)

The aim is to discuss the analyses and proposals of Yves Reuter's book "Comprendre et combattre
l'échec scolaire" (Understanding and fighting school failure) in three stages:
- a brief presentation of the book by Yves Reuter, focusing on the social dimension of school failure,
how to take into account pupils from poor backgrounds, the link between pedagogy and didactics,
and possible courses of action;
-a discussion of the book by :
Gwenaël Le Guevel, former SEGPA teacher and president of Crap,
Laurent Reynaud, high school teacher and member of the Cahiers pédagogiques CR,
Maëliss Rousseau, kindergarten teacher and Cahiers pédagogiques CR member,
Each focusing on a point of agreement, a point of disagreement and a point that raises questions;
-a lengthy debate with all participants.

Debate 2 "It's for your own good" How can we ensure that safety in schools is not a tool of
repression ? (FITCEMEA)
Raising an autonomous individual means enabling them to do things for themselves, giving them the
confidence to achieve goals that will be all the greater the younger they are. In recent years, however,
the issue of safety in schools has drifted away from this worthy objective and, from nursery school
onwards, so-called safety rules compress the natural behaviours of children and young people to the
point of modifying them, imprinting new codes of behaviour in the name of "it's for their own good".
Safety rules in schools provide protective tools to avoid "getting hurt" to the point of inhibiting
children's natural learning potential.
During this debate, we will be looking at how to combine the issue of safety at school with the
European directives on green skills, which provide for the promotion of the environment as a
common good, and with all the theories relating to the theme of outdoor education. We will discuss
our postulate: the only possible safety is that of the social group that generates inclusion to give
everyone the same opportunities.

Debate 3 How can we fight gendered failure? International comparisons (Ficemea, Cemea
Cameroon)
Schools and education remain undeniable pillars of development worldwide. We cannot hope to
ensure sustainable development without introducing educational alternatives.
But it must be pointed out at the outset that the school system as a whole functions with the seeds of
failure at its core: unsuitable curricula, inappropriate assessment systems, obsolete teaching methods
that are out of tune with the learners' environment; hence the many failures, year repeats and
dropouts.In many countries, there are socio-cultural barriers that prevent girls' schooling from really taking off:
some religions, early marriages, socio-cultural prejudices, the division of domestic tasks between girls
and boys...
At a time when schools must offer equal opportunities to girls and boys, governments must be made
aware of the need to put in place educational policies that promote a gendered approach and give all
girls the opportunity to participate actively in all the decision-making platforms that concern their
future. We'll discuss how to lobby governments and international institutions to implement
innovative practices such as children's parliaments, regional and municipal youth councils, and others
brought forward by participants.

Debate 4 New Education, prisoner of the "school format" of education and learning ? (Maison de la
pédagogie Mulhouse)
From 8 to 9, maths; from 9 to 10, music; from 10 to 11, English; from 11 to 12, biology and geology.
And so on, week after week, from room to room, the class group wanders around the school for 55
minutes per subject.
A division of time and knowledge, a space cut off from public life, a uniform way of grouping pupils:
these are just some of the elements that characterize a "school formatted" cultural transmission,
widely used but rarely discussed, rarely questioned. And yet...
This debate will explore the compatibility of a historically dated "school format" with a new education
based on pedagogies that seek to take into account the heterogeneity of students, especially those
furthest from the school norm. A debate potentially enriched by the presence of participants from
different educational systems and with singular experiences.

Debate 5 How can class heterogeneity help meet the challenge of " All able ! " ? (GFEN)

As far back as 1947, the Langevin-Wallon plan presented access to education and culture as a
principle of justice, reconciling "equality and diversity". The least we can say is that not everyone is
convinced of this, in the name of interests that, themselves, remain unspoken.
Yet there are others who are convinced that this challenge can be met.
Let's discuss it ... but interrupted!!! Let’s open the - interrupted - discussion !!!

Debate 6 In what way are popular education movements essential partners of new education
movements in the fight against the causes of school failure? (Collectif Alpha)

People who leave school with reading and writing difficulties can find new learning spaces in popular
education associations. These associations have thus been able to develop training practices and set
up projects that help fight the phenomena of social reproduction.
What can these popular education experiments with adults bring to the school world in the fight
against academic failure?
We'll be experimenting with popular education techniques as part of our discussion.

Debate 7 Textbooks: tools of control or emancipation? (LIEN, Labo de Babel, CRAP, ICEM)

At a time when the "certification" of school textbooks is being questioned, what is the position of
Éducation Nouvelle?
In what way is the textbook an ideological and cultural vehicle, or a practical tool for teachers?
In the complexity of these systems, we will seek to identify the positions of the various players
through "role-playing", as a pretext for argumentation. We'll be analyzing situations in order to come
up with solid, tenable or utopian arguments that will enable us to find another way forward, at the
crossroads of control and emancipation.

Debate 8 Are we ready to change the educational selective contract in which we are immersed ?
(LIEN)

We have inherited an educational contract that obliges us to instruct and educate young people,
while at the same time selecting them. This paradoxical mission is shattering our best pedagogical
and organizational intentions.
Are we working to change this educational selective contract, which can no longer function without
creating academic failure?
If so, how?
If not: why not?
The example of the Geneva school will be used as a springboard to launch the debate.

Axes 3: New education confronted to the rise of populist and totalitarian movements

Debate 9 Can playing save us from the dehumanization of war and enemy ? (FITCEMEA)
Our lives are increasingly suffocated by the rhetoric and propaganda of war. What makes this
condition possible? One element is fundamental: the dehumanization of the enemy, not recognizing
him, never seeing him as he is: a person; denying him a name, a voice, a hearing, a space for his
motivations, however unshareable they may be.
In this daily routine, dissenting voices, different opinions, have no place; they are criminalized, but
above all ignored and censored, unrecognized.
In the game, in all games, the "other", the adversary, the enemy... I accept him, I consider him, I
observe him, I relate to him. Both when the forces on the ground are unequal and asymmetrical, and
when the objectives we intend to achieve are different. And also when, to achieve the same goal, I'm
obliged to seek agreement, negotiation or collaboration.
In this context, can we reappropriate the culture that playing brings, in which the dehumanization of
others is not possible, otherwise... there's no game?

Debate 10 Is it possible to build a child's [or teenager's or adult's] capacity for thought without
debating and sharing? (AGSAS)

The quality of inter-individual relations, the development of language and thought, the construction
of citizenship and emancipatory knowledge are current concerns in the face of various forms of
totalitarianism. What are the mechanisms and ethical frameworks that foster them? For AGSAS,
spaces for debate are one of the essential vectors of human intellectual and social-emotional
development. Far from top-down knowledge, vertical teaching and the absence of questioning, how
can the establishment of a space free from threats, the pooling of evocations, representations and
the making of free associations, and listening to others, enable the construction of exploratory
thinking, based on transmitted and elaborated knowledge, far from prejudices and stereotypes?
Debate 11 What pedagogical practices and collective postures should be developed to support free
and democratic thought? (LA SOURCE School)
This debate will explore :
- the place of speech and the culture of debate
- the development of critical thinking
- consensus-building
- group workDebate 12 How to understand the effects of Giorgia Meloni's rise to power on social and
educational policies ? (FICEMEA, FITCEMEA, CEMEA)
The Ceméa international federation organized a working seminar to equip educational actors in the
fight against ideas from far-right political parties.
At a time when the far right is gaining ground in France, Europe and elsewhere, the Comité pour les
rela-tions nationales et internationales des associations de jeunesse et d'éducation populaire français
(Cnajep France) has decided to take part in the national debate. To feed their reflections, the
members of this collective travelled to Italy to study the impact of Giorgia Meloni's rise to power on
social and educational policies. The Ceméa Mezzogiorno organized this seminar with the CSV Lazio
(Civic Volunteers Reception Center in Rome).
This work led to the finalization of a communication document that will be presented and used as a
basis for this debate.

Debate 13 Perception of migration and the rise of populism: what is New Education doing ? (LIEN)

How can we tackle the issue of migration and the rise of populism, starting in elementary school?
What about this issue in the training of teachers and professionals in the social field? How can we
decode the dominant ideas? How can we avoid having them imposed on us? How can we build
cultural projects with young people that raise awareness and encourage exchanges between peoples?
How can we build solidarity?

Debate 14 How do we work with and between our New Education groups in extreme situations?
(LIEN)

Convergence(s) groups are experiencing very difficult situations (war, political instability, violence,
permanent insecurity).
What missions can we give ourselves to act in the best possible way?
What precautions can we take?
How can we help each other?
What knowledge can we draw on?
What can we build and learn at such times?
We'll be comparing our experiences, our practices of resistance and struggle, to highlight what
enables us, against all odds, to continue our journey together as best we can, with lucidity and hope.

Debate 15 What can New Education do to repair the effects of colonialism? (LIEN)

When we talk about colonization, we tend to think of it as a distant and banished phenomenon.
However, it is still present in relations between states.
Is the colonial legacy limited to the colonized? Why isn't colonial history really taught to the colonists
and their descendants? Shouldn't the teaching of history be conducive to the emancipation of both
the descendants of the colonized and the descendants of the colonists? How can Education Nouvelle
help to repair the damage done by colonialism? Our set-up will be in line with our topic.