Symposium / Symposion

The ancient Greek term symposion (Greek sympós?on; late Latin symposium) means “drinking together”. The term symposium (pl. symposia) for scientific conferences later developed from the meaning of social gatherings. In 1999, the Cooperative for Freinet Pedagogy organized the 1st Freinet Symposium in collaboration with the University of Bremen and the Center for Teacher Training in Bremen. Here, theory and practice are combined in a Freinetian way in an event lasting several days. A fundamental element of the symposia are also mutual observations, which are carried out promptly. Since then, a symposium has been held every two years. The activities always revolve around a current educational policy topic.