INTERCULTURAL ASPECTS OF TEACHING IN SOUTH INDIA / INTERCULTURALITE ET ENSEIGNEMENT DANS LE SUD DE L'INDE

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INTERCULTURALITE ET ENSEIGNEMENT DANS LE SUD DE L'INDE

          Lors de sa creation en 2003, EW se penchait en tout premier lieu sur les questions educatives.  Au cours des 12 dernieres annees, cependant, notre association a beaucoup elargi l'eventail de ses activites : developpement durable, protection de l'eau et de l'environnement, micro-credit, restauration d'infrastructures...

         Le role educatif d'EW reste neanmoins d'une importance capitale et, lors de nos missions sur le terrain, nous nous efforcons toujours de repondre aux demandes exprimees par nos divers partenaires pedagogiques.  Le systeme indien etant bien different des modeles en vigueur en Occident, toutes les parties prenantes doivent faire un effort d'adaptation mutuelle.  Mais - contrairement a l'adage de Kipling - l'est et l'ouest peuvent se rencontrer.  Chaque intervention, chaque cycle de cours, chaque conference EW sont negocies a l'avance avec les partenaires institutionnels, et notre association est toujours ravie de se trouver en situation avec les jeunes Indiens en formation.

Une partie des etudiants MBA de Francis-Xavier College / Some of the MBA students at Francis-Xavier College in Tirunelveli (TN)

                    

           Nos partenaires indiens ont exprime le desir que nous partagions notre savoir-faire, y compris nos methodes assez differentes.  Ils s'interrogeaient tout particulierement sur notre approche pedagogique qui est, dans l'ensemble, plus souple, plus centree sur l'apprenant lui-meme.  Celui-ci assume d'emblee plus de responsabilites dans la construction de ses propres connaissances. 

De futures Professeures de BEd. College - Cheranmahadevi / Future secondary-school teachers at BEd. College

          Notre premiere intervention a eu lieu a l'Universite de Madras, (Chennai), a la demande du Docteur Chitra Krishnan, Doyenne du Departement de Francais.  Nous avons anime des cours et des conferences-debats sur la civilisation et la culture de la France actuelle pour des etudiants, niveau M1 et M2.  A cette occasion, nous avons, bien sur, evoque longuement les recentes attaques terroristes a Paris (janvier 2015).  Invites a poser des questions et a faire part de leurs reactions, les etudiants, manifestement peu habitues a ce genre d'exercice, ont surmonte leur timidite pour librement prendre la parole.  La discussion s'est averee fort interessante - d'autant plus que nous nous adressions aussi bien a des Hindous, des Chretiens qu'a des Musulmans...

Professeure d'Anglais - ITT / English Teacher at the Institute of Teacher Training - Cheranmahadevi

          A Tirunelveli, deuxieme etape de notre sejour, EW assurait un cycle de cours intensifs pour les etudiants  de F-X College, inscrits dans un programme bien cote de "MBA" ("Master's of Business Administration").  Le cursus abordait des sujets tels que l'impact des realites macro-economiques actuelles sur le developpement economique en Inde, les effets durables de la crise "sub-prime" sur l'economie mondiale depuis 2008, le developpement durable et les nouvelles exigences en matiere ethique pour les chefs d'entreprises.  Le tout suivi de tres riches discussions. 

     A 30 kilometres au nord, sur le campus de Cheranmahadevi, EW a largement participe a la formation de futurs enseignants - niveau Ecole Normale ("Bachelor of Education College" et "Institute of Teacher Training" - l'equivalent de l'IUFM).  Chaque intervention se passait devant des groupes d'environ 100 etudiants.  Malgre le nombre qui incitait plutot au cours magistral, il a ete possible de les faire travailler en petits groupes, de les faire participer a des ateliers creatifs et a des jeux de roles.  EW a propose une palette d'activites d'eveil et un rapporteur par groupe a presente le travail de celui-ci a l'ensemble de la promotion.  L'ambiance etait tres bonne, et les jeunes tres receptifs a des pratiques plutot inhabituelles pour eux.

La promotion de jeunes inscrites a l'Institut de Formation des Professeurs des Ecoles / Students enrolled in the College of Education - future elementary-school teachers

          C'est a Nagercoil - a 25 kilometres de l'extreme pointe de l'Inde - que nous avons encadre, par petits groupes, des lyceens de 1ere pour des seances intensives de pratique de l'anglais oral et une introduction aux methodes audio-visuelles.  Ils sont, en effet, beaucoup plus habitues a l'anglais ecrit et a la traduction en tamoul, qu'a la langue parlee.  Une maitrise de telles competences linguistiques est cependant indispensable dans un pays avec plus de 20 Etats differents et ou la seule lingua franca reste la langue de Shakespeare.  C'est egalement le "ticket d'entree" pour n'importe quel emploi qualifie.  EW reste persuadee que toutes ces experiences sont aussi enrichissantes pous les uns que pour les autres.

Eleves de 1ere a Nagercoil / A group of 11th-grade girls during Study Hall in a Nagercoil high school

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE VERSION :

INTERCULTURAL ASPECTS OF TEACHING IN SOUTH INDIA

          When EW was first created back in 2003, it was heavily oriented towards educational development in the Third World.  In the ensuing years, however, our NGO has greatly expanded its scope to include a more integrated approach to community development - including issues such as water management, environmental protection, micro-credit for the impoverished and the renovation of vital aspects of village infrastructure.

          Nonetheless, EW's educational role remains of great importance.  Whenever we are abroad, in the field, we always make a huge effort to respond to the pedagogical needs expressed by our different partners.  The Indian educational system differs greatly from those in Western Europe, so that everyone involved must exercise some degree of intercultural gymnastics.  But, in all our years of experience, we have found Kipling's saying to be incorrect : East and West may meet indeed.  Each intervention, each intensive course, each conference is first discussed with our institutional partners - so as to best meet their specific needs. EW is always delighted to work with young Indians at all levels of training.

Les etudiantes en derniere annee d'IUFM - Students in their last year of Teacher Training

          During this 2015 mission, EW's different partners asked our association to share both its know-how and its various pedagogical methods.  They were particularly interested in how teaching is done elsewhere.  They generally perceive that Western education is globally more supple and more "student-oriented", but perhaps a bit overly permissive...  Whereas Indian students are expected to take little or no personal initiative, our partners were keen to see how they might be more encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning processes.  

Sabina - Professeure d'Anglais a Nagercoil / Sabina - English teacher in Nagercoil

          EW first intervened at the University of Madras - Chennai, in order to work with the graduate students under the tutelage of Dr. Chitra Krishnan, Dean of the Department of French.  Seminar courses were offered in contemporary French culture and civilization - and this was the opportunity to discuss at length the recent terrorist attacks in Paris (January, 2015). The students involved were invited to interact and freely ask questions.  All were able to overcome any residual shyness and the discussions were rich - all the more so, given that the graduate-school audience included Hindus, Christians and Muslims... 

B.Ed. College - Une Responsable de Groupe faisant un compte rendu de travail a l'ensemble de la promotion / a Group Leader Reporting Back to the Full Student-Body

         
        Then, in Tirunelveli, some 600 kilometers to the south, EW offered an intensive course for the MBA students enrolled in F-X College.  The program covered such issues as the impact of current macro-economic realities on Indian development, the lasting after-effects of the 2008 Sub-Prime crisis, sustainable development, and the new demands for enhanced corporate ethics.  Each session was lively and led to keen debate and discussion.

          30 kilometers outside of Tirunelveli, on the Cheranmahadevi campus, EW was called in on numerous occasions to provide lectures and seminars for those enrolled in the two local Normal Schools : The Bachelor of Education College and the Institute of Teacher Training.  Course-loads were heavy - with nearly 100 in attendance.  Although such numbers generally lend themselves solely to a straight lecture course, it was nonetheless possible to divide the attendees into groups.  Thus they were able to participate in creative mini-workshops and engage in role-playing activities, for example.  Each group had a spokes-person who then reported back that group's findings to the full student-body.  The overall atmosphere was both studious and relaxed, and the college students involved were highly open and receptive to techniques and methods that were new to them.  

Un groupe d'etudiantes en classe de 1ere /  a Group of 11th Graders in Nagercoil

          In Nagercoil, within a stone's throw of the extreme southern tip of the Sub-Continent, EW provided an intensive course in oral English and an introduction to A-V methods in the classroom.  High-school students are familiar with written English and with English-Tamil translations but oral English is really not part of their usual syllabus...  However, such oral skills are of the utmost importance in a country which counts well over 20 different States (each with its own language) - so that the only real lingua franca remains the language of Shakespeare.  Total fluency in oral English is also a must in order to get any real highly-qualified job... Students were very eager to take advantage of these new opportunities, and EW is sure that all these varied educational experiences were very mutually beneficial.