4. Objective criteria or subjective factors in choice of subjects?
Success in forum work will come from both: objective criteria in relation to content, but also subjective factors in relation to the participants’ personal investment – that of the teachers and classes/pupils involved.
What subjects should be looked for?
- subjects which match the age of the pupils, about which they have both knowledge and experience, about which they have something to say
- subjects which appeal to their curiosity and enable them to discover and learn something
- subjects which interest them, about which they are keen to exchange views. These subjects place them in a real communication situation
- subjects whose formulation takes the pupils away from stereotypes and whose development is not beyond their linguistic abilities
- subjects which invite the pupils to tackle the intercultural topic in a school context and beyond. Subjects which fit into the curriculum and quite naturally induce autonomy.
What selection methodology should be adopted?
For the methodology, we offer as an example the work done during the Gulliver project central workshop.
“Tell me where you come from, where you are going, and I shall understand more clearly where you are”. Our guideline focussed on three fields: “Yesterday”, “Today” and “Tomorrow”.
The principal stages in the work of the participating teachers which led to a consensus are the following:
a) personal reflection bringing together all the ideas put forward for each field of work. For example, in the “Today” field we obtained three kinds of subject:
- very broad proposals, admittedly in keeping with general subjects such as “Sport” or “Home life” but which do not prompt the learner to participate because of the lack of precision and guidance – the communication aspect is not obvious to them
- proposals involving more communication and calling directly for pupil participation, such as “What do you think of your town/region?” or “How I dress when I go to school/ when I go out”. The learner can react to this kind of subject in a very personal way and his individual work, integrated in the group work, will lead him to formulate a structured, reasoned opinion from level A onwards
- other proposals such as “What stresses me”, on the other hand, call for much more personal, in-depth work, more appropriate for pupils at level B who have greater maturity and language skills. Simple signs such as “+” (to be kept), “-“ (to be discarded) or “?” (to be discussed) may be helpful in taking group decisions.
b) reformulation of subjects in the form of questions about general topics such as “School” or “Everyday life”. For example, in the “Today” field, questions retained included “What do you like to do at weekends?”, Which traditional festival in your country would you like to invite me to?” and “Could you live without your mobile/computer? Why?”. This work of reformulation demonstrates a desire for simplification to enable the pupil to understand the subject properly however complex or simple the contribution asked for and whatever the learner’s linguistic level.
c) a selection of 5 subjects per field, necessitated by the following constraints:
- the duration of the experiment (one school year)
- balance between fields, each class having to work on the 3 fields
- questions reflecting learners’ differing levels (from A1 to B2) within each field.
In the “Today” field, the 5 questions retained were:
- How and why should traditions be presented?
- Which traditional festival in your country would you like to invite me to?
- What is the origin of your national festival? What do you do on that day?
- How did your parents’ generation grow up? Ask the people around you.
- Of the following values, which is most important to you?
The entire procedure for all three fields is described in "Project Information" - section 3.
This methodology was also adopted by certain colleagues in discussing some subjects proposed by the forum afresh in order to adapt them either to pupil level or to the school curriculum.