Glossary

–> Jeux dramatique

In order to bring together the diversity of our regional activities, we come together at regular national meetings. In this way, we experience ourselves as a nationwide community and expand our networks.

A good feedback culture is characterized by openness and mutual trust. It also encourages people to freely express praise, criticism, suggestions for improvement and wishes. It is important that there are fixed places, times and rituals for this form of metacommunication. In Freinet pedagogy, feedback takes place primarily in the group or class council. The prepared statements on the –> wall newspaper (“I praise …”, “I criticize …”, “I suggest …”) structure the course of feedback in the group or class council.

–> Presentation

Free expression refers comprehensively to all learning and development topics. This results in learning arrangements that create space for individual and collective expression – head, heart and hand are in harmony. In Freinet’s pedagogy, there is also free expression in mathematics, e.g. when discovering symmetries in nature or when working with cubes or coins in large quantities.

Writing free texts is an important Freinet pedagogical method. Célestin and Elise Freinet introduced free writing into the school context in order to distance themselves from the traditional school essay with its very narrow writing guidelines. Free texts allow learners to express their own view of the world. The writing assignment can be completely open or stimulated by certain impulses (images, stimulus words, environment, nature, experts).

The Freinet pedagogy offers a structuring framework in which the learners can develop freely. For example, –> morning circles, work plans from the –> weekly plan work, –> wall charts, etc. are used to structure joint and individual work. The degree on the scale between freedom and structure is constantly redefined by Freinet teachers depending on the group. The goal is the greatest possible degree of freedom, which the learners realize in joint responsibility.

The training on the theory and practice of Freinet pedagogy comprises six joint modules in presence and one individually designed module. It uses the continuity of a fixed group that works and learns together over two years. Each module of the training lasts four days. All modules build on each other in their entirety. In this respect, only participation in all six training units leads to comprehensive Freinet pedagogical competence. This is because complex learning development steps can only take place in a fixed group in a familiar atmosphere.

The group council is the counterpart to the –> class council in learning groups that are not organized in classes. It can be used in nurseries, primary and secondary schools as well as in adult groups as a steering instrument for democratic learning.

The diversity of the learning group is a natural enrichment of learning. Every topic of “otherness” is an opportunity for the learning group. Freinet, for example, used the origin of a child from another country as a learning opportunity for foreign language acquisition and cultural exchange such as cooking activities or similar.