Waching daily Jan 27 2017

Tell us about your project called "Discovering Pune".

"Discovering Pune" is organized for Grade 11, DP1.

Students are between 16 to 17 years old.

I have been organizing this for the last 6 years.

What is the project all about?

This project is about getting the students to discover Pune physically, they discover

the city of Pune and the connections between the city and the French language.

What are the pedagogical objectives of this project?

The objectives are: to get students to discover Pune and its culture, then to give them

a sense of independence since they move around on their own and not all the students

are used to moving around in Pune on their own so that's something "new".

Then, they also discover the links between Pune and the French language.

What are the students supposed to do during the adventure?

For instance, they visit the "Alliance Française" but this year, I also organized an interview

with a professor from the University of Pune who teaches at the level of Master degree and our students

also had an interview with "Friends of France",

an organization that plans intercultural exchanges between Pune and France.

On this day, I tell the students to meet me at a specific place in Pune.

Once they arrive, I give them various hints and they need to decode the hints to find

out where to go next and how to navigate to the place.

Nowadays it's easier to navigate because there is "GoogleMap" but it's still an experience that is quite extraordinary.

How do the students react?

The students are fascinated by this adventure because, first of all, they don't have to come to school!!!

They learn but in another context, not in a classroom, that gets them excited.

Then, they also like to explore and find information.

There are so many things that they don't know about Pune, for instance, they didn't know

that there was a Film Television Institute of India, the only one in India to teach cinema.

So they discover new things and they meet people whom they can speak to in French.

Generally in Pune, they don't get the chance to speak with French speaking people outside

the classroom, so this is a very motivating experience for them.