NECTAR: New Education Transition in Agroecology and Rurality
▶Summary
The NECTAR project (New Education Transition in Agroecology and Rurality) aimed to implement pedagogical activities and to carry out a comparative reflective analysis of the teaching of agroecolog...
▶Objectives
The NECTAR project (New Education Transition in Agroecology and Rurality) aimed to implement pedagogical activities and to carry out a comparative reflective analysis of the teaching of agroecological transition in France and Austria. The secondary schools had to work in Franco-Austrian pairs on key concepts linked to the agroecological transition and which may raise societal questions for learners. The teachers and educational experts involved in the project were to exchange ideas and develop tools with the aim of gaining a better understanding of learners' learning mechanisms.
▶Activities
The project was structured by six meetings organized in pairs in the partner schools. The aim of these meetings was to explore and implement pedagogical practices on the following themes: local food and autonomy; soil fertility; complexity in professional situations. During each meeting, the pedagogical activities were followed by a time of discussion during which the pedagogical practices were analysed and compared to those observed in the other country. This project started with a launching seminar, held in visioconference, and finished with an in-person final seminar gathering all partners.
▶Impact
The content of two seminars and the six meetings was summarized into minutes. The work carried out was capitalised on in the form of three action sheets corresponding to the three themes addressed. The educational activities observed are presented and analysed, comparing the French and Austrian approaches. The experts' conclusions are capitalised on in the form of a video in which they are interviewed, as well as in an article presenting the results of the project. The evaluations carried out among the teachers involved in the project highlight the skills they have acquired in teaching sustainability and/or agroecology in a critical way and in using constructivist pedagogies. Learners have been encouraged to think in new directions to enable innovative approaches to solving sustainability problems in relation to future challenges.