Those who thought it impossible to bring together CEGEP students in the forest to talk about philosophy, without an Internet connection, should take it for granted: not only are young people capable of it, but they want more. As part of the new “canot-philo” course, last August, two professors from Montmorency College, in Laval, took around twenty students to Mont-Tremblant National Park for four days of sport and reflection. . A look back at an unusual experience.
The schedule was set like clockwork. After lunch, students were to pick up their equipment and gather to philosophize for an hour. This was followed by four hours of canoeing, settling into the next camp, dinner and another hour of discussion.
“It’s certainly quite niche,” recognizes Geneviève Tétreault, the physical education teacher who had the idea of combining the canoe-camping course with the philosophy 102 course. She and her colleague, the philosophy professor Marc-André Caron-Mailhot, practically recruited the students one by one.
“We have a lot of students who have never gone camping,” says Mr. Caron-Mailhot. Hence the importance of the few days of preparation preceding the release. The prospect of adventure convinced many, as did the possibility of finishing their physical education course and a third of their philosophy course before the start of the fall semester.
I really didn’t think this outing would help me with my mental health.
“I really went out of my comfort zone,” admits Harni Selvaradnam, a student whose first camping experience was. “Before the release, I worked full time. I had some pressure at school, at work and at home. […] I really didn’t think that this outing was going to help me with my mental health,” she confides.
It is this daily pressure that the philosophy professor wanted to highlight. He saw the experience as “a step back to be able to criticize our own rhythm of life”. The texts to be read and the discussions led by the teacher centered around the themes of nature, technology and boredom.
Healthy disconnection
“They were cut off from their cell phones, they couldn’t be entertained,” explains Mr. Caron-Mailhot. “For some of them,” adds his colleague Mme Tétreault, isolating themselves like that, without wifi, made them anxious. […] But, luckily, at the end of the weekend, they were thanking us because they realized how much good it made them. »
An observation shared by several participants, including Charlotte Cypihot. In CEGEP, “you walk into your class and there are thirty students on their phones. In that class, we looked at each other face to face, it was really another experience.” “Among people of my generation,” she adds, “there is more and more worry, anxiety about performance and everything. But sometimes you just have to let go of everything. »
The beneficial effects of technology weaning were also felt in terms of learning. For Émile Beaulieu Clément, a technical student in special education, the absence of a network, “it makes you more Relaxit makes you more inclined to listen, since there is no distraction of the phone.”
More inclined to listen, but also to participate in discussions. With the result being a “problem” that many teachers would envy. “It was one of the rare times that with this class, I had to ask them to calm down so that I could get my message across” as the students discussed the subject so passionately, explains Marc-André Caron-Mailhot. Of course, he’s not really complaining about it.
A cure for absenteeism?
Beyond the disconnection, the adventure was also intended to be a lesson in perseverance, discipline and management of adversity. “They still found it intense,” according to Mr. Caron-Mailhot.
Especially since the weather was not the most pleasant. “The first night, we were all wet, we were soaked in front of the fire, trying to dry our laundry,” says Charlotte Cypihot.
Students were divided into subgroups to manage their equipment and prepare meals, with varying success. But after a day of effort, it doesn’t take much to be satisfied. A student on Charlotte’s team “just had soup in a can, but it was the best dinner of the whole weekend,” according to the student.
On the sporting side, the physical education teacher wanted to offer her students a safe, but not monotonous, course. “I like to take them to small rapids. They are eighteen year olds. When you spend four days on a lake, sometimes it gets a little boring,” says Mme Tétreault, who guided the group on the Diable River.
Back in class for the last ten philosophy lessons, the effect of the canoe-camping trip is still felt. “I’m becoming more interested, because the atmosphere we created there remains a bit in the classroom, even when we’re inside,” says Émile Beaulieu Clément.
Harni Selvaradnam noted the same thing. “This course really showed me a new version of philosophy that I had never seen,” says the student. Marc-André Caron-Mailhot also recognizes that it can be difficult to “embody the material” in philosophy, hence the importance of trying innovative approaches.
In general, “we have problems with absenteeism in class,” says Mr. Caron-Mailhot, “while in the canoe-camping class, I had an attendance rate of approximately 100% until the last course “. “We will do the experiment again next fall,” assures the teacher. We bet that he will be able to count on a first cohort to extol the merits of a course that is out of the ordinary.