At the start of the school year, new things have appeared in classrooms. “Many colleagues have developed mobile classes using tables on adjustable casters”illustrates for example Jérôme Fournier, national secretary of the teaching union SE-Unsa.
New products appear in various places in France. West France reports the arrival of new work tools in a school in Chevaigné, in Ille-et-Vilaine. Thanks to noise-cancelling headphones, a schoolgirl completes her math exercises in silence. This helps him to feel better “concentrate”she said. The class has also been equipped with screens to allow students who wish to isolate themselves. This initiative is being implemented thanks to the Educational Innovation Fund, launched in August 2022 by Emmanuel Macron.
In the service of reading
The creation of this fund was part of the National Refoundation Council (CNR) led by the President of the Republic and aimed to finance the projects of its educational component “Our school, let’s do it together”. The fund was then endowed with nearly €500,000 for the entire five-year term.
Two years after its launch, “it works pretty well”believes Jérôme Fournier. The union representative notes that the teaching teams “have seized the possibilities offered by this fund”. As of February 19, more than 13,000 projects had been submitted by teaching teams throughout France.
Symbol of the popularity of the measure, “some colleagues even get impatient when implementation drags”notes Jérôme Fournier. This is the case of Jean-Robert Biggio, school director in Pignan in Hérault. “Following the assessments carried out in CP and CE1 classes, we wanted to go further in learning to readhe explains. After consultation with parents and teachers, we requested funding for packs of eight tablets equipped with software which are supplementary reading aids provided by the national education system. »
At the end of August, the establishment obtained the allocation of the Educational Innovation Fund to push this project forward. “We are in the process of placing orders”continues Jean-Robert Biggio.
“A general injunction”
Are we thus witnessing a form of “gadgetization” of teaching methods? “I simply see teachers who are looking for solutions to best engage their students in learning”refutes Jérôme Fournier. Jean-Robert Biggio agrees: “These innovations make it possible to modify traditional teaching practices and adapt each class plan according to what the teacher wishes to work on. »
Educational innovation was not born under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. “It’s a concept developed in the 1960s”recalls Pierre Kahn, professor emeritus in educational sciences at the University of Caen.
Highly acclaimed for two years, the fund still faces criticism. “Today, educational innovation is a general injunction, and the way it is promoted suggests that a good teacher is necessarily an innovator”regrets Pierre Kahn. For its part, the SE-Unsa union deplores the opacity of the fund allocation commissions.