KEEP - Key engaging educational practices

Context

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated drastic changes in education systems around the world. The successive confinements have imposed the urgent implementation of distance learning and the need to rethink all pedagogical practices and relationships between institutions, teachers and students. At the same time, the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic have greatly increased the risk of dropping out of school (UNESCO, COVID-19 Education response, July 2020). At the European level, each country has put in place a differentiated strategy to deal with these changes and promote student success.

Project Summary

In response, France Education International launched the KEEP initiative (Key engaging educational practices used by secondary school teachers to keep connected with their students following Covid-19 pandemic), which aims to identify and sustain the good practices implemented by secondary school teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic. It brings together Greece, Belgium, Poland and France in an Erasmus+ strategic partnership project.

The project started in March 2021 for a duration of two years and a half.

Partners :

• France Education international (FR), coordinateur du projet
• GIP Formation tout au long de la vie – Rectorat de Nancy-Metz (FR)
• Université Paris Cité – Laboratoire EDA (FR)
• P&V Fondation (BE)
• Educational Research Institute – IBE (PL)
• University of Patras (GR)

Our partners share their experience of an Erasmus+ project:

Activities

Surveys were conducted with volunteer secondary school teachers and groups of students, families and head teachers in each country. Through these surveys, we collected innovative practices for keeping in touch with pupils at a distance. These testimonies were contextualised in an ecosystemic report, while the teachers' practices were developed in teacher portraits. A transnational analysis of the collected teaching practices was carried out by the project partners, in order to build recommendations to accompany the development of digital education and prevent the risk of dropping out.

The impact of the project

The KEEP project thus seeks to identify, share and disseminate the innovative tools and practices that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to encourage the improvement of teachers' pedagogical and digital skills. More broadly, the KEEP project aims to create a community of teachers united in the fight against school failure and dropout. It should eventually contribute to reducing school failure and the low involvement of students in the learning process due to the closure of schools.

Project progress

This report presents the national measures that enabled education systems to adapt and maintain quality education during the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Belgium, Poland and Greece. 

Led by the Foundation P&V in Belgium, it is the result of the first year of project implementation. During this year, the partners collected data and analysed the state, regional and local measures implemented in schools. This first deliverable of the consortium identifies the main challenges faced by the education systems of the partner countries in recent years, such as truancy, learning breakdowns and remedial programmes in distance learning situations. 

This ecosystem report is an analysis of surveys and focus groups conducted in Belgium, France, Greece, and Poland. Led by the Greek team from the University of Patras, this report highlights the relationships between the different contextual elements that contributed to teachers' activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper compares the interconnections between three levels of study: regional, local, and personal, revealing social and digital inequalities of students, parents, and teachers. Thus, we find that the risk of dropping out of school has increased due to the lack of pedagogical and management support. However, the dedication of teachers and school leaders was evident. Finally, parent and student resilience and autonomy were highlighted as key attributes for educational continuity.

The EDA laboratory of Université Paris Cité led the realisation of the transnational analysis which identifies the factors that led teachers to declare their practices as effective and innovative. Overall, 125 testimonies about hindering elements and 145 supporting elements were identified, each element representing a separate idea in the discourse of the teachers.

Fostering autonomy and learning agency among students, making the learning experience enjoyable for students and enhancing engagement, were some of the main elements identified by teachers. Finally, the teachers' mindset, particularly their resilience and lifelong learning mindset emerged as an important factor in their ability to adapt in the new educational landscape. To understand the relation of all factors, discover the full report above.

To ensure the successful implementation of the educational practices identified as part of the project, the KEEP consortium, led by the Educational Research Institute - IBE, has drawn up recommendations. These are based on all the research carried out and results gathered as part of the KEEP project. The aim of our eight recommendations is to improve the preparation of all those involved in education for distance learning, while at the same time limiting school drop-out. 

Portraits d'enseignants

Led by the Académie de Nancy-Metz, the partners from Belgium, Greece, France and Poland, selected and interviewed 5 teachers per country in order to share their innovative pedagogical practices in distance learning and the fight against school dropout.  
The result: 20 portraits of European teachers who describe their teaching context, their practice as well as the course of the sessions, their success keys and the impact that the practice had on the pupils.   
Each of them presents different digital tools available to teachers and pupils to create motivation and engagement. Come and discover each of these practices. Come and discover each of these practices.
 

Podcast

The Online Teaching: KEEP it up! podcast series features a teacher profile and a good teaching practice from each participating country. In each of the four episodes, France Education International welcomes a KEEP partner to present a teaching practice that has proved effective in preventing school drop-out during lockdownw. Come and listen to them!

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.