A new workshop format
Between 7 December 2020 and 8 January 2021, teachers and pupils in the Nancy-Metz education authority in France have pioneered the first blended edition of Science in Schools, online and face to face. Professor John Dickinson, researcher at Kent University, transformed his workshop Inside Sports Science and ran it from his home whilst in lockdown directly into classrooms for teachers and pupils in 4 vocational education schools in the Nancy-Metz region. The result is an outstanding success and we invite many more education authorities to get involved in the new-format Science in Schools which gives even more focus to supporting teachers and pupils learning through the medium of English. Recteur Jean-Marc Huart and British Council Director Bob Lewis joined the workshop to add their congratulations to the pupils and teachers involved (have a look at the videos above and below). A film about the whole operation is being prepared by the Nancy-Metz authority - watch this space!
What is the subject?
The purpose of Inside Sports Science is to expose students to key scientific and technological developments in Sports and Exercise Science in a hands-on and accessible manner – entirely in English. With the help of their teachers, pupils engage in a range of activities exposing them to the science involved with the most advanced training methods, techniques and equipment used by the world’s leading athletes and coaches, notably activities covering several different areas of sports science. For example: recording their own physiological and psychological measurements and comparing them to the scores of elite athletes or exploring how elite goal keepers anticipate the direction of a penalty kick.
How is the workshop structured?
The workshop comprises four key aspects, allowing students and teachers to reap the full benefits of the operation:
- Online synchronous masterclass for all teachers
- Hands-on face to face workshop delivered by classroom teachers
- De-briefing session for all teachers
- Online synchronous workshop for pupils run by Professor John Dickinson where the pupils present their work in English