Together with my colleague Christine Schmider, I participated for three years in the Erasmus+ program ConnEcTEd: Coherence in European Teacher Education. Creating transnational communities of practice through virtual scenarios.

Two publications were written on this topic. The first publication, “Assessing student perceptions of professionalization measures and coherence after the 2011 French curriculum reform”, was published in 2024 (read more).

A follow-up article “Curricular Reforms in France: The Impact of Consecutive Reforms on French Pre-Service Teachers’ Perception of Coherence and Professionalisation Measures” is now published in the volume Teacher Education and Knowledge Transformation in Times of Change.

The chapter analyses the profound transformation of the French teacher education system that began with the reform implemented in 2011–2012 and has been continuously adapted since. One of the major objectives of this reform was to strengthen the professionalisation of teacher education and to establish national frameworks for teacher competencies in primary and secondary education. A subsequent reform introduced in 2020 further modified the structure of teacher education by redefining the role of the national competitive examination (Concours) and by reducing the proportion of practical training in order to increase opportunities for subject-specific and didactical learning.

To evaluate the impact of these reforms, five cohorts of students enrolled in the secondary education Master’s programmes at the INSPE of Nice were surveyed during the academic years 2014–2015, 2016–2017, 2017–2018, 2018–2019, and 2022–2023. The study investigates how successive curriculum reforms have shaped pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the coherence of their training and of the professionalisation measures implemented within the programme. By comparing the effects of the 2020 reform with those associated with the earlier 2011 reform—often referred to as the “masterisation” of teacher education—the chapter provides insights into how changes in educational policy influence the experiences and expectations of future teachers. These findings aim to support both local and international policymakers in assessing the consequences of the most recent reform and in refining the articulation between university-based training and practical experience in teacher education.

To be consulted online: https://brill.com/display/book/9789004731554/BP000024.xml?

Please cite as: Schmider, C., & De Smet, C. (2023). Curricular reforms in France: The impact of consecutive reforms on French pre-service teachers’ perception of coherence and professionalisation measures. In Teacher education and knowledge transformation in times of change (pp. 217–239). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004731554_012

I am very pleased to share a new publication with you. It is a publication I have worked on for no less than 6 years!

The article describes the results of a game course in which two GBL (game-based learning) methods were tested with master’s level 2 students in secondary education (English and sports): on the one hand, the application of the PCaRD model by Foster and colleagues, and on the other, the GameChangers program by Arnab and colleagues. The course discussed in this article spanned a period of 4 years, and the data were collected during the 3rd year. Early in the course’s development, it became clear that the PCaRD model was supplemented by GameChangers due to unmet needs.

An important factor in implementing games during an internship is, of course, the type of internship and the student’s experience with games and their implementation. At the time of my study, the students had a unique status: they were both students at the faculty and in-service teachers in regular school settings with full teaching responsibilities. They had passed the state examination and were compensated as probationary civil servants.

My students explained how PCaRD and GameChangers helped them, listed the competencies they deemed necessary, and identified the constraints they encountered. We can conclude that it is necessary that their training includes hands-on experience with game-based learning, a deep understanding of game design and mechanics, comprehensive knowledge of student behavior and responses, along with rigorous lesson planning and effective classroom management skills.

If you have access to Elsevier articles, you can read and download the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2024.101388. You can also download the accepted version here or send me a message.

Please cite as: De Smet, C. (2024). A qualitative evaluation study of introducing game-based learning methods during pre-service teachers’ Internship. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 83, 101388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2024.101388

Together with my colleague Christine Schmider, I participated for 3 years in the Erasmus+ program ConnEcTEd: Coherence in European Teacher Education. Creating transnational communities of practice through virtual scenarios.

The internationalisation of teacher education (TE) and the creation of a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) were essential for enhancing professional development, cooperation, and mobility in European TE. However, the diversity of national TE systems hindered coherence and mobility, making a transnational approach necessary. The EU-funded ConnEcTEd project addressed these challenges by fostering transnational professional learning communities and integrating coherence in European TE through collaborative efforts and innovative teaching methods.

Short introduction: At the Inspé of Université Côte d’Azur, where Christine and I work, a survey has been conducted since 2014 aimed at measuring satisfaction with and perception of the 2011 reform. Christine and I selected the questions related to coherence, which allowed us to write a chapter examining the 2011 curriculum reform in France. This reform aimed to professionalize the teacher training system and establish national frameworks for teacher competencies in primary and secondary schools. Inspired by European guidelines for teacher education, the reform represented a paradigm shift in the French system, integrating pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge alongside traditional content knowledge. The result was a narrowing of the professional orientation gap with other European teacher education systems and increased vocational coherence.

To be consulted online: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-43721-3_6

Please cite as: De Smet, C., Schmider, C. (2024). Assessing Student Perceptions of Professionalization Measures and Coherence after the 2011 French Curriculum Reform. In: Doetjes, G., Domovic, V., Mikkilä-Erdmann, M., Zaki, K. (eds) Coherence in European Teacher Education. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-43721-3_6

Avec mes collègues Dayle David et Margarida Romero, nous avons constaté que la créativité en contexte d’apprentissage est souvent évaluée à travers des activités individuelles et beaucoup moins lors d’activités d’apprentissage collaboratif. Pour évaluer ce processus, nous avons élaboré une échelle inspirée du modèle systémique de la créativité de Csikszentmihalyi (1999) ainsi que de la revue de littérature sur les composantes de la créativité en contexte d’apprentissage collaboratif.

À consulter en ligne : https://journal.admee.org/index.php/ejiref/article/view/163

Comment citer :
David, D., Romero, M., & De Smet, C. (2022). Développement d’une échelle de co-créativité en contexte d’apprentissage collaboratif en pédagogie universitaire.Évaluer. Journal international de recherche en éducation et formation, 8(1), 85-109. https://journal.admee.org/index.php/ejiref/article/view/163/148

Avec une année de retard, notre premier article sur la créativité a été publié dans la Revue des sciences de l’éducation de McGill : “Étude de la littérature sur la créativité en sciences de l’éducation dans les pays francophones“.

Résumé (français) : Le terme « créativité » est utilisé de façon très diversifiée dans le milieu professionnel, technologique, socio?économique ou encore dans le contexte scolaire. Dans une perspective exploratoire, une révision de la littérature scientifique francophone en sciences de l’éducation a permis d’identifier les champs de connaissances qui mobilisent ce concept. L’étude menée a porté sur une analyse descriptive ainsi qu’une analyse de contenu catégorielle. Les résultats de celles?ci nous ont permis de situer le contexte de la créativité et d’identifier cinq champs de connaissances : 1) enseignement et développement personnel, 2) résolution de problèmes et pensée informatique, 3) approche artistique, 4) formations et/ou programmes éducatifs, et 5) facteurs de développement de la créativité.

Abstract: The term “creativity” is used in a wide variety of ways in professional, technological, socio-economical and educational contexts. In this paper, an exploratory literature review of the French-language scientific literature in educational sciences was conducted, revealing the fields of knowledge that mobilize the creativity concept. Both a descriptive and a categorical content analysis were employed. The results of these analyses allowed us to situate the context of creativity and to identify five fields of knowledge: 1) teaching and personal development, 2) problem solving and computational thinking, 3) artistic approach, 4) training and/or educational programs, and 5) creativity development factors.

À consulter en ligne : https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9800

Comment citer :
De Smet, C., Raileanu, M.-B., & Romero, M. (2021). Creativity within educational sciences in French speaking countries: A literature review. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 55(3). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9800

Mi-mars 2021, Le Laboratoire d’Innovation et Numérique pour l’Éducation (LINE) a organisé, sous la direction de Magali Brunel, le colloque « La créativité dans le champ de l’enseignement et de la médiation : quels objets d’enseignement, quelles compétences, quels dispositifs ? ».

L’introduction du colloque, écrite par Magali Brunel et Cindy De Smet, a été publié sur Les Archives Ouvertes (HAL) (télécharger) :

La notion de créativité dans le champ des sciences de l’éducation et de la formation

Ce colloque est le premier colloque scientifique international du laboratoire LINE, il en constitue en quelque sorte une deuxième naissance, et pourra, nous l’espérons, contribuer à inscrire notre structure de recherche aux côtés d’autres groupes et laboratoires dans une orientation qui nous est commune, celle de la créativité comme objet de recherche du champ des sciences de l’éducation et de la formation.

Comment citer :
Brunel, M., & De Smet, C. (2021, March). La créativité dans le champ de l’enseignement et de la médiation: quels enjeux et quelles pistes de recherche?. In La créativité dans le champ de l’enseignement et de la médiation: quels objets d’enseignement, quelles compétences, quels dispositifs? Colloque international des 18-19 Mars 2021.

Dans cet article, Laurent Heiser et coll. décrivent le rôle que des médiations pédagogiques dites technocréatives peuvent jouer pour favoriser l’engagement des élèves dans le cadre d’une démarche de pédagogie créative. Nous présentons ces médiations pédagogiques en lien avec lenta notion d’expérience vécue dans le but d’enrichir leur conception. C’est en anticipant sur les ressources et le sens que les élèves vont leur attribuer que réside le potentiel de l’approche technocréative : leur capacité à appuyer le développement de l’esprit critique des élèves face aux dispositifs numériques qui les entourent.

Veuillez citer comme suit :

Heiser, L., Romero, M., De Smet, C. & Faller, C. (2020). Conception d’activités technocréatives pour le développement d’une pédagogie créative. Formation et profession, 28(2), 51–59. https://doi.org/10.18162/fp.2020.547

In this conference paper, George Kalmpourtzis et al. observe that examining and identifying the way that designers approach game design could support the improvement of game design curricula. The paper further explores how kids in the early childhood approach develop and apply game design strategies during participatory game design sessions. During a period of three months, eighteen kindergarten learners participated in game design sessions, creating their own games. The data analysis suggests that those learners applied different game design strategies than the ones they initially started using. The frequency and intensity of the use of those strategies also changed, showing patterns that indicate learners’ development in their use of game design strategies and add empirical evidence to the field of game design education. Additionally, the Game Design Strategies Analysis (GDSA) is presented, which elaborates on the different types of strategies encountered when designing games.

If you use the article, please cite as:

Kalmpourtzis G., Romero M., De Smet C., Veglis A. (2021) An Analysis for the Identification of Use and Development of Game Design Strategies as Problem Posing Activities for Early Childhood Learners. In: Auer M.E., Tsiatsos T. (eds) Internet of Things, Infrastructures and Mobile Applications. IMCL 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1192. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49932-7_6

In this article (open access), Romero et al. consider game design as a sociocultural and knowledge modelling activity, engaging participants in the design of a scenario and a game universe based on a real or imaginary socio-historical context, where characters can introduce life narratives and interaction that display either known social realities or entirely new ones. In this research, participants of the co-creation activity are Malaysian students who were working in groups to design game-based learning resources for rural school children. After the co-creativity activity, the students were invited to answer the co-creativity scale, an adapted version of the Assessment Scale of Creative Collaboration (ASCC), combining both the co-creativity factors and learners’ experiences on their interests, and difficulties they faced during the co-creativity process. The preliminary results showed a high diversity on the participants’ attitudes towards collaboration, especially related to their preferences towards individual or collaborative work.

If you use the article, please cite as:

Romero, M., Arnab, S., De Smet, C., Mohamad, F.S., Abdelouma, S., Minoi, J-L. et Morini, L. (2019). Assessment of Co-Creativity in the Process of Game Design. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 17(3), pp. 199-206.

In this conference paper, Iro Bartzia and Cindy De Smet discuss their experiences with a game-based learning approach to teach mathematics to unaccompanied minors.

Their conference paper discusses the conception and the realization of a serious game whose first objective is the discovery of different domains of mathematics by problem solving and the development of logical skills. The game was based on the escapED framework (by Sylvester Arnab et al.), and has been specifically designed for unaccompanied migrant children; in the sense that it takes into account cultural, linguistic and technological barriers, and targets (as a secondary objective) to decrease their sense of isolation and exclusion by including different cultural and geographical elements. Furthermore, all physical senses were represented to increase the motivation and implication of the players. This study describes two different iterations of a serious game; the second took place after evaluating the first one.

Please cite as: Bartzia, I.; De Smet, C. (2019). A Game-based learning approach to teach mathematics to unaccompanied minors in Paris. In: ICERI2019 Proceedings, pp. 5146-5155. ISBN: 978-84-09-14755-7