
See the kind words they wrote about the exhibition & conference here: http://ffjs.org/projets/article/soutien-a-l-exposition-mingeye-dans-l-oeil-de-l-artisan-a-rennes?lang=fr
Thank you very much to FFJS for their support đ
See the kind words they wrote about the exhibition & conference here: http://ffjs.org/projets/article/soutien-a-l-exposition-mingeye-dans-l-oeil-de-l-artisan-a-rennes?lang=fr
Thank you very much to FFJS for their support đ
Check out the article on Rennes-Sendai’s website to get to know a little bit more about the behind-the-scenes of our collaboration for “MINGEYE – dans l’Ćil de l’artisan” exhibition & conference (article in French) : http://www.rennes-sendai.fr/2019/10/derriere-la-creation-de-mingeye-dans-loeil-de-lartisan/
With the support of l’Association de Jumelage Rennes-Sendai (http://www.rennes-sendai.fr/) and Fondation Franco-Japonaise Sasakawa (http://ffjs.org), The Dorayaki Project turns into MINGEYE – dans l’Ćil de l’artisan, an exhibition + conference to share a little bit of my research adventure in Japan.
Between March and May 2018, I took part in the artist-in-residence program at MORIUMIUS with The Dorayaki Project. It is an action-based research that questions the role of craftspeople in Japanese society.
Todayâs article is special. You will notice that the interviewee is not a craftsman, but a teacher. Why is that? What do they have in common? The answer is: both of Arthur and the craftspeople base their practice on know-how (*).
First, my brain goes fast and searches for examples and counterexamples. I try to think of what cannot be learnt, what human beings are born with. Breathing is natural, innate â at least, that is what I believe instinctively. But Arthur has a different point of view. âIt is very difficult to define the notion of know-how, however, I can give you a few examples. It is anything that can be acquired. Breathing is a know-how, because you can learn how to hold your respiration for a long time. Your heart beating is a know-how, because you can control the rhythm of your heart beats â with a training â and slower it so much that you get close to clinical death.â
Using History as a discipline, Arthur explains: « A historian who studies events across times and puts them in perspective and draws conclusions out of it â this is a know-how. Someone who can read documents â thatâs a know-how. But remembering that Napoleon was crowned as Emperor in this or that year â thatâs knowledgeâ.
(At least) two ingredients go along with « know-how », as Arthur mentions. âKnow-how cannot be acquired without experience â that is just impossible!â. Plus, at Comme Les Français, making mistakes is truly considered part of the learning process.
« When I start a class, I have no expectations. I offer activities for the students and these activities are designed so that they can trigger a realization in their mind.â
Moreover, celebrating each studentâs uniqueness is of paramount importance. âI remain aware that in my class, there might be five people and they make up five different entities and there is no point trying to harmonize their levelsâ. Plus, these students change over time âIt is important to regard students as different from last weekâ.
Competition is not on the agenda here. Arthur and the other educators pay the highest respect to each studentâs learning pace. « In a football game, for instance, competition arises because there is only one trophy ». What is realistic and acceptable, as far as Arthur is concerned, is when students « compete with themselves ».
« Handing knowledge over is useless. We value know-how building. As educators, our role is to create a situation in which students will get the opportunity of creating know-how. Generating a new know-how can be done, not through explanation, but through experience.â That is why experience is of paramount importance.  At Comme Les Français, the educatorâs role can be summed up as follow: « we are facilitators of learning. We catalyse studentâs realisations. Thatâs our goalâ.
Empowering students is at the heart of educational ethics. Responsibility is a notion that Arthur calls upon to several times during our conversation.
Students are being given feedbacks â not answers!  – and « they are free to take them into account or not. Itâs their responsibilityâ.
Overall, students gain the opportunity of « changing their time into experienceâ, as well as developing know-hows and sensitivity that goes way beyond merely learning a foreign language. I had the feeling students were given tools for self-development and daily life. âOur work is to develop some attributes, such as wisdom, sense of truth, harmony, etc. â in the classroom.
Empowerment is the key because âwhat does it mean to speak a language? It means taking the world over, because one can speak with more and more peopleâ. It feels like Comme Les Français helps students conquering the world â if the latter want to!
Did I mention the name of the method that inspired Comme Les Françaisâ team ? It is called The Silent Way⊠Do you realize what it implies?  « I donât talk during the classes! It means an Arab student, a Chinese student and a Japanese student can gather and have a class together. I donât talk, I donât explain â what I do is enable studentsâ realizationâ.
(*) Comme Les Françaisâs spirit is inspired by an Egyptian philosopher called Caleb Gattegno, who developed a method based on know-how to teach various subjects such as French or mathematics.
Comme Les Français
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