The teacher’s Lunchboxes – a place where to transform pedagogy and share innovative practices

The teachers’ Lunchboxes are a place dedicated to raising awareness to the educational transformation taking place in higher education. They also aim to be a convenient time to the exchanges of practices and to the discussion between peers. Fundamentally based upon an active pedagogy, they propose to the teachers interested by the new pedagogical methods and devices to make it their own through a practical collaborative work in small groups. Testimonies of colleagues having experimented innovative pedagogical formats also enrich certain sessions. Participants’ feedbacks via the evaluation survey encourage to extend the Lunchboxes to a larger public and perimeter.

Friendly appointments throughout the year to exchange around the transformation of pedagogy.

To whom are the Lunchboxes ?

To everyone teaching in Sciences Po: members of the permanent faculty, associate professors, teaching assistants, PhD, external lecturers, experts, etc.

What is the rhythm of the teacher’s Lunchboxes ?

At least two teacher’s Lunchboxes are proposed every half-year (that is, between four and six a year), since 2014-2015.

What was the purpose of organizing the teacher’s Lunchboxes? How is a session organized ?

The first objective of teacher’s Lunchboxes is to familiarize to the transformation of academic practices and to the renewal of higher education. In 2016-2017, for instance, the following themes were discussed: objectivation of the oral assessment, scenarisation, flipped classroom.

Each session begins with a short general presentation (+/- 15 mn), followed by the testimony of a colleague (+/- 25 mn) and by practical activities in small groups (between 30 to 45 mn). The discussion and exchanges are encouraged and approved at each step. Each session can welcome between 15 to 25 participants.

The choice of the animators, who are pedagogical engineers at the Active Pedagogy Lab and at the Center for digital education, is to put the participants in a truly active approach. Indeed, like research, teaching requires reflection for action but also sharing its experience and a certain critical analysis. This is precisely what the teacher’s Lunchboxes want to offer: a time to

1. step back from your own teaching,
2. stay informed of pedagogical innovation,
3. concretely testing and in a realist context new methods and devices,
4. while exchanging interrogations and points of view in a collective manner with peers.

Each session is evaluated (via a short printed survey), which aims at gathering the opinions and suggestions of participants. In the academic year 2016-2017, the Lunchboxes demonstrated it was a popular meeting for the academic community of Sciences Po.

Extending and enriching the Lunchboxes in 2018 ?

Until May 2017, the teacher’s Lunchboxes have only been organized in Paris. There is a will to extend it progressively to the regional campus. To this end, a session on the theme of the “flipped classroom” will be organized on the Reims campus during the academic year 2017-2018. The initial session on the theme will be made available online in replay.

Besides, a reflection is taking place on the opportunity to adapt the Lunchboxes model to the head of pedagogy of each School in Sciences Po in order to involve more actors in the transformation and renewal of pedagogy.

Finally, in September 2017, a transversal seminary on the theme “Conceiving its teaching and pedagogy” has been integrated to the offer of courses of the doctoral school. The first session gathered 20 Phd students.