EC - COURAGE - engage event

4 students in the Erasmus+ class (2nd year) work on a value : “Courage”. They have to prepare a 3-part event about “ENGAGE” based on the work of 3 groups, the other two being organised by two other groups about “pride” and “citizenship”. They have to think about this value by following 5 guidelines : respecting a time limit (45 minutes), answering a problem in the form of a slideshow that they write in French but present in English, illustrating their thinking by creating posters on concrete examples, interceding with the public (3 high school classes and 3 teachers), inviting an outsider to testify about his experience related to the topic.

4 students announce their event by making a poster. They organize this event as follows :

When the audience arrives, they play a game in which they choose from 6 images the one that most represents courage for them (bungee jumping, illness, firefighting, resistance during the 2nd world war, lion, public speaking) : each student takes the image they have chosen and places it in a box. They then present in French a slideshow and posters that they have written in English, from a quote : "I am the master of my destiny, I am the captain of my soul” (Nelson Mandela) and a problem to which they propose to answer : "How can we explore the relationship between individual courage and the ability to forge one's own destiny in a world where challenges often seem insurmountable ? “ This is the question they are answering in 3 areas : courage in the face of illness (patients, families, medical team), in the cultural world (art, cinema, songs) and in History (acts of bravery, battles against causes: LGBT, racism, sexism). During their presentation, 5 symbolic figures are more particularly evoked from posters: Hercules, Niki de Saint Phalle, Terry Fox, Martin Luther King and Anne-Franck. After that, the 4 students invited a professional to illustrate their thinking through the story of his experience: they chose an artist (actor, clown) and drama teacher. Based on the story of his professional career, he looks at courage through different situations: the stage fright of the artist before going on stage, the management of the memory 'hole', courage seen as taking risks regardless of the results and as surpassing oneself, the difference between courage and recklessness. Finally, the 4 students debriefed the initial game: 1/3 of the audience had chosen the image of the Lion as a symbol of courage, and some of them were asked to justify their choice.

3 classes go to the auditorium of the “Hall aux sucres”, the learning center in Dunkirk. The 4 students carry out the different activities they have prepared. The audience was very attentive when the students presented their slideshows and their research. They were happy to take part in the image game, but were more shy when it came to speaking in public and justifying their choices.