This text is part of the Teachers’ Week special booklet
Reflection, discussion, creativity and sharing were at the heart of an intergenerational project at the Alternative Energy School in Shawinigan. As part of the “Change the world, one work at a time” project, students collaborated with adults aged 50 and over to create, all together, works, but also bridges between generations. The result of their work will be exhibited, along with other works, at the POP Museum in Trois-Rivières, from April 18 to May 18.
François Turcotte teaches in the third cycle of the alternative school of Energy, in a multilevel class which brings together 22 students from 5e and 6e years. For this teacher at the end of his career, retirement will be at the end of the current school year. For him, this ambitious creative project is one way among others to end his career as a teacher in style.
In an alternative school, teaching works by projects. Students must get involved, find ideas and develop them. “It’s a public school,” he said. One of the big differences is parental involvement. And then, the main goal is for the student to be happy at school. We want kids to come in happy in the morning and come out happy at the end of the day, and this project was an incredible exercise in art and sharing. »
Indeed, François Turcotte’s students have been lucky in this quest for happiness, since a few steps from their school is the studio of an artist specializing in pedagogy: Javier Escamilla. This pedagogue from Colombia, who arrived in Quebec 20 years ago, has always favored encounters between culture and education. He is now coordinator of the “Changing the world, one work at a time” project of the Trois-Rivières Solidarity Committee, an international cooperation organization.
“Today, in education, the philosophy is to teach people to obey, to work and to consume,” says Javier Escamilla. Our work is rather linked to the values of alternative schools, and other community organizations, which consist in promoting civic education through art. We want to meet citizens to give them a voice and allow them to express their concerns, their pride, and act in a process of artistic creation. »
A sharing in six meetings
Over the course of six workshops, the students therefore met adults aged 50 and over, parents and grandparents, who agreed to take part in this workcamp. Initially, they were asked to talk about what concerns them to inspire their creations.
“This project is magnificent, exclaims Javier Escamilla. We brought these generations together to journey through a shared thought process. I explained to them how the project works, they discussed planetary challenges, then it’s the visual art that must speak. In this exercise, one can be indignant about certain problems, for example climate change, but one must also document oneself to enrich one’s work. »
In art, we are too often interested in the performance, in the result, as if it were a competition. With Javier Escamilla, it is above all the approach that is important. For example, to learn to work together and to trust others, the participants started their drawing, then had to pass it to their neighbor, who continued it.
“The project is based on freedom and freedom of expression,” he says. I am not invited to make known a technique, but to help the participants to build together a more human journey, for a more living culture. It is an ecological project where we must trust the citizens. We often have prejudices against children, namely that they cannot think critically. It is quite the opposite. Children have critical and revealing thoughts. The web becomes the territory to be shared, and the participants understand that they must work together to build their future. »
A final step remains to be taken: deciding how this set of works, described as an “alternative encounter”, will be presented for the exhibition. Finally, the students will be present at the opening, a moment of anticipated pride.
“It’s rare in my life as a teacher that I’ve had the opportunity to do intergenerational projects with grandparents who show up at school in the morning with their coffee,” says François Turcotte. It was really nice to see everyone at work, and the best thing I will remember from my last year of teaching is that. »
You can view some of the works produced on the project site.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.