Glossary

In each group/class, there are tasks that serve the community, such as sweeping, garbage duty, clean-up duty, window and energy watch, etc. In order to transfer the responsibility to each individual, these tasks are organized in daily or weekly services via the class or group council and the execution is reflected upon.

–> Freedom

Ateliers are time-limited workshops that are either offered by experts or advertised as participatory ateliers. We distinguish between long-term workshops (usually lasting several hours over several days) and short-term workshops (one-off offers lasting 1-2 hours). In a workshop, participants can try out new methods in a protected environment. Anything is possible as a studio topic: from theory to art, from concept development to free creative expression.

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.