Geosciences and alternative teaching practices in a French primary school.

The organisation and functioning of this elementary class is multi-level (from Grade 1 to Grade 5) in all subjects except mathematics where there is individualisation of progress. Teaching is carried out in a class organised in table groups mixing levels, ages, boys and girls. The teaching is based on a change in the posture of the teacher, who is neither omniscient nor infallible but remains a model of human values: he does not know everything, but knows how to access what he does not yet know, he is demanding and benevolent as the pupils, future citizens, must learn to be. Well-being and confidence are the first objectives before learning. The functioning of the class is also based on a class cooperative with elected pupils (president, treasurer and secretary) who have certain responsibilities (meetings, management of certain learning activities, certain small or large projects, certain parts of the life of the class). The organisation of learning time alternates between individual work and cooperative and/or collective work, theory, practice and confrontation with reality.Science teaching is an essential part of learning. It develops curiosity, questioning, the formulation of hypotheses, experimentation and the construction of models for representing the world. In this context, geosciences have a regular place because they provide elements of knowledge and understanding that are central to other subjects in the school curriculum or to understanding the world. The poster will try to show this and some aspects of what the class, in particular, has done to discover tectonic and volcanism in reality.