World café

Initial situation

The objective of this course is to develop students’ skills, know-how and interpersonal skills related to children’s creativity. To do this, the teacher has decided to emphasize group dynamics. He proposed a role-playing game to the students (about ten groups of 5 to 6 learners). Each group of students works on the same theme, but each one has a different role.

Project implementation

The first sessions are dedicated to the theoretical and practical teaching of the notion of creativity. Various professionals, such as directors of so-called alternative schools (e.g. Montessori), also participate in order to present their establishments and compare the theory with the reality of teaching from a creative perspective.

Students are then invited to imagine a school that would be different from the so-called “traditional” school, a “child-friendly” school that would allow children to flourish and be creative. To do this, they must take into account different dimensions such as the rights of the child in education, creativity, interculturality and critical thinking.

They are then divided into working groups, each group representing a stakeholder (children, parents, teachers, program leaders) and must, while keeping in mind the different dimensions, design this new school according to the role that has been assigned to it and in collaboration between groups.

In order for everyone’s work to be part of a global vision, the teacher chose to organize a pedagogical world café. During this event, the 10 groups of students were divided into 10 tables, each representing one of the dimensions addressed during the discussions. Large sheets of paper were placed on the tables to support the discussions and reflections. After each round of discussion, the groups move from table to table. One member of each group stays at the table to explain the progress of the discussion to the incoming group. Each group goes through all the tables and thus brings to each dimension the reflection it has carried out from the point of view of the actor it embodies. Finally, all of these discussions are used as a basis for the global synthesis requested from the students.

The course is evaluated by a written report and an oral presentation. The oral presentations are also evaluated by the students in the form of a peer evaluation following an evaluation grid. The grade proposed by the students for the different groups counts for half of the final grade given by the teacher. The presentation format is left to the students’ choice (PowerPoint, audio podcast, theatrical presentation, forum day, etc.).

Thoughts and advice

Allowing students the freedom to choose the format of the oral presentation allows them to be very creative, and they can even develop new ideas for future editions of the course. One year, the students decided to create a day of forums to present their group work. The teachers were invited to take part in this day by going from stand to stand where the students presented their work in the form of posters, animations, presentations, etc.

Student feedback

“To not do a traditional course and thus allow us to see something else. That’s not common in the academic world unfortunately and it should be, because the course was very challenging.” “I really enjoyed the World café as it allowed me to share different perspectives regarding education in schools today and helped a lot in the completion of the report.” “Varying the forms of instruction is a plus.”