“Provoc”, or how to stimulate curiosity for research among teenagers. An original approach developed in Brazil.
Jacques Ducommun, Dr ès Sciences, Professeur à la Haute Ecole Pédagogique BEJUNE (Berne, Jura, Neuchâtel).

To provide every ordinary citizen with a decent amount of scientific literacy, it is vital to introduce children to research activities very early on. It would indeed make more sense to encourage children to “do science” rather than simply teach them about scientific results. A number of such approaches have recently been proposed in MEDCs. “La Main à la Pâte®” is one of them. Other attempts include such popular events as “Nuit de la Science” (Night of Science), various science days proposed by scientific institutes, or competitions similar to “La science appelle les Jeunes”.

The aim of such activities is twofold:

1. Discovering a genuine heuristic approach should help children understand what the status of scientific experimenting is all about, as well as the true nature of the processes analyzed, thus fostering a real scientific initiation of the future citizens.

 

2. The interest generated by the children’s participation in the elaboration of a scientific research project should help them opt for a scientific curriculum. This aim appears to be particularly relevant considering today’s growing lack of interest for scientific studies among young people (cf. OECD report http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/60/24/37038273.pdf ), even if this evolution is sometimes questioned (Julien Tayon, "La Recherche" n° 390, October 2005 and Bernard Convert, "Pour la Science" n° 353, March 2007).

Most of the projects described before, however interesting they may be, generally lack a very important dimension: they neither show nor emphasize the duration of the processes that any real scientific research involves. Consequently, the image of scientific work is biased and the long-term effort that it is bound to require is absent from the demonstration proposed.

Yet, ever since 1986, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) has relied on a system allowing teenagers to develop their scientific skills in an active way.

This approach is called PROVOC (PROgramme for scientific VOCation). In this structure, students aged 15 to 16 are accompanied through a special programme in which they conduct laboratory research. University students welcome and coach upper-secondary school pupils in their laboratory for half a day every week over a period of one year. They offer them a regular task in one of their research projects. The duration of this collaboration can possibly be prolonged in certain cases.

Although it is extremely interesting, this partnership requires solid organisational skills and a reliable structure to be conducted successfully.

We are convinced that it would be relevant to adopt a similar approach in Switzerland. Therefore, to start with, we invited in Neuchâtel a Brazilian delegation whose mission was to inform the institutions potentially interested (i.e. the local University, “Lycées”, and Teacher Training School – “HEP”-) in testing the system in an initial phase. So far we have established contacts with UNINE (the local scientific research institute), the three state upper secondary schools (“Lycées”) and the regional Teacher Training School (HEP-BEJUNE), which would assume the organisational aspect of the project. If the test is a success, we will try to further develop the system and propose it to other regions of Switzerland.

Our Brazilian ambassadors (the director general of PROVOC, a prominent collaborator and a young scientist who went through the whole process) came in April and May 2007. They spent four days presenting the PROVOC concept to our local partners and also took part in the “Journées Internationales sur l'Education Scientifique (JIES)” in Chamonix (F)  in order to introduce PROVOC to the French-speaking educational and research authorities.

At the end of the first phase, the assessment of the experience seems quite positive. Even if the first “lycéens-chercheurs” haven’t gone through the process yet, perspectives are good. We will have to embark on it and give it the time necessary. The partners engaged in the process will have to coordinate their action. The University will have to find researchers ready to go for it, the “lycées” will have to stimulate and select the candidates and the “HEP” will make sure the whole process runs smoothly… but we shall certainly still need some help and advice from our Brazilian colleagues. May the South American sun shine on the Swiss experiment and give it momentum!

To finish with, let me say a warm-hearted “thank you” to KFPE for its financial generosity and to HEP-BEJUNE for covering  the rest of the expenses.

 

Contact adresses:

Switzerland
Dr Jacques DUCOMMUN
HEP-BEJUNE PF2
33, rue du 1er août
CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds
Tél. Prof. +41 32 886 97 51
jacques.ducommun@hep-bejune.ch

Brazil
Dra Cristina Araripe Ferreira
Coordinatrice générale du PROVOC
Escola Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venâncio
Av. Brasil, 4365 Campus Fiocruz – Manguinhos
Rio de Janeiro, RJ - CEP 21040-900
cararipe@fiocruz.br