FV 011 : Being a Primary School Teacher in Rural France
Transcript Vocab List Questions Elodie is a young, energetic and very creative primary school teacher in rural France. She started teaching in a very small village school where she had to manage pupils of different levels all within the same classroom. We will also talk about the different ideas and projects that she has implemented to help children become more independent and finally about how she talked with her pupils about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and at Charlie Hebdo. Episode Timeline [06 min 37 sec] “Professeur des Ecoles”: a description of the profession [08 min 10 sec] What her pupils call Elodie [08 min 58 sec] How to become a school teacher in France [10 min 10 sec] Elodie’s career background [10 min 55 sec] Elodie’s first position : several roles in one! [13 min 32 sec] Dealing with several year levels in the same classroom [14 min 25 sec] The organisation skills required when teaching in a multi-level classroom [16 min 38 sec] A smart idea to promote good behaviour in the classroom [21 min 29 sec] A school project to help pupils become more independent [22 min 46 sec] Overseas penpals [25 min 12 sec] “La Journée de la Gentillesse” [26 min 16 sec] Charlie Hebdo / Terrorist attacks in Paris : how to talk about it with the students [30 min 00 sec] Elodie’s reading recommendations Links & Resources To write to Elodie and discuss school pedagogy / teaching methods : eloeudier(at)yahoo.fr Readings recommended by Elodie: La Pédagogie Freinet / Freinet’s pedagogy : Article in French Article in English Book in English L’oeil du Loup, by Daniel Pennac (French edition) Un tueur à ma porte (by Irina Drozd) – French edition If you buy one (or more) of these books, I will receive a little tip from Amazon at no cost to you. Etre et Avoir (documentary by Nicolas Philibert, 2002). This award-winning documentary follow a schoolteacher in a small French village and his 12 pupils aged 4 to 11 years old over the course of one school year. You will laugh, you will be moved, you will be inspired by these slices of life. A must-see. Watch trailer and read reviews Etre et Avoir is available on DVD and on Youtube Photo credits: Elodie E. and Jessica T.