Training speakers

Initial situation

This course is part of the Bachelor of Education in Education and Training. The objective of this new course is to propose to the students to analyze current social issues: disability, social inequalities, protection of the population or major crises through the prism of vulnerability and adult education.

The challenge for the teacher was to find an original pedagogical method to really make the students aware of situations of vulnerability and to make them think about adapted training systems. In order to do this, the teacher wanted to actively involve experts and researchers in the different fields in his teaching.

Project implementation

The course is built around four thematic vulnerabilities. Each vulnerability is approached from two angles: the first is “conceptual”, co-facilitated by an expert, and the second is “formative”, with the help of a researcher in adult education.

The experts are either people who work in the field concerned (e.g., the cantonal commander of civil protection to talk about public protection) or people who are personally involved (e.g., a person with a mental disability to talk about disability).

The originality of the pedagogical approach lies in the fact that the external speakers did not limit themselves to a simple testimony within the framework of the course but actively participated in the animation of the course. This is particularly the case of Rui Costa Machado who, thanks to a partnership with the Swiss Association for Mental Handicap, is invited to share her experience with the students as a person concerned by mental handicap but also to participate actively in the teaching through a professional internship.

During this 6-week internship, Rui Costa Machado participates in the design and co-facilitation of class sessions with the teacher. At the end of each co-facilitated session, the teacher debriefs the trainee and assesses his or her skills using a matrix developed by the RIFT (Research Intervention Training Work) laboratory. The culmination of the trainee’s professionalization process consists of designing the content of a session (on vulnerability due to disability in this case) and conducting it alone.

In doing so, the university allows its students to benefit from the experience of external facilitators, but also allows the external facilitator to benefit from a professionalization process, which is both conducive to the university’s ambition of inclusion and, more broadly, to the development of the participation of the persons concerned in the activities of the Cité.

The evaluation of the course for students consists of a written work that can be prepared and handed in individually or in groups of two or three. This written work, which follows the structure of the course, is divided into two deliverables to be handed in one month apart, each counting for half the final grade. The first part of the assignment consists of a conceptual presentation of a vulnerability situation and the second part of the assignment consists of a proposal for a training device adapted to the type of vulnerability chosen.

Thoughts and advice

The inclusion of a speaker who is concerned with the theme of the course being taught, and who is also a trainer-user in the field of the curriculum (education and training) is a significant added value in the training of university students.

This partnership teaching method can be shared and transferred to many areas and courses of study at the University. The sharing of experience is relevant and complementary to the transmission of traditional theoretical knowledge. It can be considered on a one-off basis for a session or on a more global basis for an entire course.

The first point of vigilance is to anticipate the integration of the sharing of experiences of the speakers into the theoretical content of the course. It is important that the different contents are complementary without being redundant.

Another important point is to assess one’s capacity and availability to supervise the professionalization internship. Good supervision requires organization, time and a clear idea of what skills you want to develop.

It is obviously desirable to pay the supervisor, provided that his/her professional and administrative situation allows it.

Student feedback

“It is an interesting course because of the different themes it raises and many actors in the field intervene: very interesting. Course focused on possible levers of action: gives perspectives for action. The accompaniment of a “trainee” in the course, I think it is very formative for herself, for the teacher and for us, the students.”

“The live question/training aspect is really interesting and different from the usual courses. It allows us to thematize a situation and then make it more generalized to apply the info to other cases. I found it very constructive.”

“Well done for this semester, the course was dynamic, it allowed for constructive exchanges. Having a different theme for each course avoided the redundant effect. The speakers thanks to their expert qualities were able to add value to our knowledge.”

“I think that if the presentations of the external speakers were shorter (45 min), the professor could have had time to share with the students and present the elements to be retained/mastered. This would create cohesion in the course and would be greatly appreciated by the students.”

“Having speakers to introduce us and present different situations of vulnerability is good but there are many speakers and few sessions without speakers in between to be able to take stock, share and be able to make a connection with the required work”