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Dear Champiteans,
In anticipation of the School’s 120th anniversary in 2023, I continue to feed the debate on educational themes. Here, I would like to address the issue of the relationship between children and teachers.
The socio-constructivist approach places the child at the centre of his or her learning, gives him or her autonomy and creativity, and makes him or her master of his or her own pace of learning. The teacher becomes a companion, a learning coach. This trend towards empowerment seems to us to be a useful counterweight to an overly infantilizing society. However, the reasoning taken to the extreme concludes that the child can learn without a teacher, just as he/she learns his/her mother tongue at home, and finds all the necessary content on the Internet. With technology enabling virtual schooling, the child could finally do without coming to school. Algorithms would replace the teachers.
I am not a researcher or even a specialist, but I can base an opinion on 7 years of observations of the school reality. It seems to me that the approach described above involves a good dose of "adultomorphism", i.e. considering the child's behaviour as that of a mini adult. However, children go through stages of development. I was able to visit a university in Sierre which lets students decide on their own projects and develop them almost without help: after discussions with these students, it appears that this system is only suitable for a minority, and that even for them, the amount of work and the challenge of finding their own resources cause considerable stress.
A notion of performance can be introduced here: the teacher saves the child a considerable amount of time by guiding him or her through the learning process. In the transmission of knowledge, there is no point in revisiting everything and getting lost in the exponential universe of knowledge: the teacher provides us with a mental map and directs you to the subjects worthy of curiosity.
But in my opinion, the most important aspect of learning remains the human relationship. The child's interest, curiosity and joy of learning are increased tenfold in an affectionate human relationship with the teacher. Often the child performs better when he/she likes his/her teacher. The choice of option is influenced by the personality of the teacher. The very nature of the emotional relationship changes the whole picture of schooling.
I am deeply convinced that, for pupils of primary and secondary school age, the relationship with the teacher remains essential to their learning. Robots and algorithms will never replace teachers, or they will do it very badly. I believe that a child is only truly fulfilled through the loving, understanding and pedagogical relationship with the teacher.
Philippe de Korodi
Managing Director
Boarding at Collège Champittet offers the opportunity to enjoy exceptional adventures not only in Switzerland, but also around the globe! Recently, a group of our boarding students travelled to Oman to spend an unforgettable two weeks immersed in culture and nature.