From Sciences Po to the CRI (Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity)
“Manon, what do you wanna do later” ?
When people asked me this question, I used to hide behind a wise answer, during all my childhood and adolescence ; I used to whisper softly and timidly : “I don’t know yet”.
I might have been a bit more affirmative at the age of 4 by stating loud and clear : “like Mom!”. But then, around 6 or 7 — around the famous age of reason — I became too reasonable to dream about becoming a secret agent or a famous actress.
I became uncertain about my future 🤔
For a while ⏰
For a long long while 💣
Untill recently, I thus kept on telling people that I didn’t know at all which kind of job I wanted to do. In fact, they were much more imaginative and ambitious than me with their suggestions : “Why don’t you become France’s first woman president ? Why don’t you take the competitive exam l’ENA ?”
Actually, just the fact of hearing such commonplaces makes me feel anxious. I really admire those who have a great sense of general interest. Yet, I find these academic paths a bit too conformist and thus not adapted to today’s world, mainly because they are not able to compete with digital transformations.
This is why I’ve decided to open up my horizons by following another academic formation. But not any kind of formation ! A very specific and great one : the Master EdTech of the CRI (Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity)
1. Why am I an EdTech student at the CRI today ?
If I had no idea, for a while, about the kind of job I wanted to do, I’ve always had in mind an ideal purpose : to make the world a better place. By thinking about the best way to have a positive impact on societal issues, it clearly appeared to me that education was the dorsal root of change 🎒
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” (Nelson Mandela, July 16, 2003)
This reflexion became an evidence for me, last year, while going through different steps :
1.1. After studying in Public Policy and working in EdTech startups ….
My first two years at Sciences Po have been a tough time. I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions about my professional orientation, and after tons of reflexion, I’ve ended up in the Digital Track of the School of Public Affairs in order to complete my Master Degree there. And guess what ? I really enjoyed it. I had the luck to have classes with great teachers such as Sébastien Soriano — chairman of France’s Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority : ARCEP — or Dominique Cardon — a sociologist specialist about algorithms and big data — which make me aware of new issues and new ways of making policy.
At the same time, I was willing to increase my professional experiences in order to know better what kind of job and environment could please me or unplease me. Here again, after different experiences in big structures (e.g. U.S. Senate, Flammarion), I wanted to have a go at working in a startup environment. I have thus done an internship in the EdTech startup Pandacraft, which aims at promoting children’s creativity through manual activities. I’ve enjoyed it so much that I’ve decided to pursue there as a freelancer while achieving my M1 at Sciences Po. In fact, I was really concerned with the fact of promoting new way of teaching and learning. I’ve thus began to read about cognitive sciences ; to follow some Mooc (e.g.“Education through research : neurosciences at school” given by the Savanturiers) ; to attend several conferences ; to be involved on other project about education (e.g. with Ed21& Numérilab)
All that, gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of people interested by educational issues : researchers, Phd Students, entrepreneurs, teachers, etc. In the middle of this living ecosystem, I came accross the CRI and the name of one of its founder, François Taddei, famous for the report he made to the National Ministry of Education : Towards a Learning Society. This is how I happen to apply for the master just before the deadline…
1.2. … I’ve decided to turn towards research
My academic and professional path might seemed a bit scattered, but, in fact, I am finding a coherence in this disorder. Actually, I strongly believe that this is precisely the combination of research, entrepreneurship and policy-making that can give legitimacy to one’s insight on the digital transformations happening in education. And this transversality is exactly what the CRI is proposing through some partnership classes with both Sciences Po and EHESS for instance.
This is why, I’ve decided to turn towards research for a while by studying at the Master EdTech. My goal is to have a deeper understanding of cognitive and behavourial sciences in order to foster their application to public policy and education ; in order to promote evidence-based policy and education.
2. What does the CRI bring me ?
For the first time, I have the feeling of being fully taken into account and fully understood, in an academic structure. I am not just perceived as a studious and wise student ; but my entire personality is regarded.
2.1. A strong educational support
A few weeks ago, the pedagogical coordinators of the Master, Ada Loueilh & Léa Douhard, asked us how we introduce our master program to others. Well… I was tempted to be a bit provocative and to answer that I often present it as a Montessori Kindergarten 🎨 Hopefully, other students were faster than me at giving a well-formulated anwers such as :
“ The goal of the master is to have an impact on education and society through digital transformations and pedagogical innovations”
If this definition can’t be truer, I think there is also a truth behind my joke. In fact, what the CRI brings me the most is kindness and attentiveness. I feel very lucky to be surrounded by inspiring mentors and passionate researchers, which are always available to help and give great advise to students.
2.2. A stimulating environment
If I have to choose one word to qualify the group of students in the Master, it will be for sure : diversity. For a visual evidence, have a look on the 2 graphs below 👇
Who would have told me that I will study one day along a franco-tunisian family physician, Karim Sandid 🇹🇳 ? That I will learn some basic coding knowledges from computer science students ? 🤖 That I will discuss about the link between music and learning with a pianist composer, Liburn Jupolli ? 🎶 And finally, that I will get some tips for my internships from a Greek passionate about open science and civic tech, elina moraitopoulou? 🇬🇷
Definitely, this diversity, both in terms of backgrounds and nationality, enlarges my horizons and lead to effective peer-to-peer learning.
3. How does the CRI empower the students ?
3.1. Project-based learning and active pedagogy
When I was younger, I hated group work. Yet, very recently, I discovered it could be pleasant and very enriching. The spirit of the CRI is to promote collaboration in order to trigger the emergence of collective intelligence. Basically, it means : learning by doing ; during our class, we have not choice than getting our hands dirty 🖐️ I won’t say that it’s easy. For instance, we have a class on cognitive sciences and we struggle at conducting a research project at 20. Though it’s difficult, it boosts some really useful soft skills (empathy, active listening, leadership, etc.) for the profesionnal world.
Actually, if there are some scientific evidence about the bigger effectiveness of reverse classes, in contrast of lecture in amphitheatre, I’d prefer to share with you a personnal fact : I contribute actively to oral discussions. It’s a huge news regarding the fact that during the rest of my school years, I tended to be the discreet girl at the back of the class…
3.2. Freedom to take initiative and develop personal research project
What I enjoy the most at the CRI is the freedom it gives me. I can explore any subjects or projects that I want at my own pace. I have time to read a lot and to attend conferences 📚 As the building of the CRI is in open access, I can invite, more or less, any people or organise any meetups.
I really love this self-organisation and this autonomy. It’s been a long time that I hadn’t feel such an intellectual and personnal fulfillment.
Before ending this story, I’d like to share with you a short conversation I recently had with Mounir Mahjoubi after a conference on Digital & Higher education organized by the Institut Montaigne.
“- Are you all students at Sciences Po ?
- I am also studying at the CRI
-Very nice ! The CRI is a place full of weird people.”
N.B. : Actually, this dialogue was in French and he said more or less : “Au CRI ? Génial ! C’est un endroit rempli de gens chelous qui testent plein de trucs”
In the past, I would have been upset by such a remark. But this time, I smiled because I interpreted the word “chelou” in a positive way : in the sense of “atypical” or “original” ; in the sense of being off the beaten track, which is, in fact, the only way to truly innovate and face today’s global challenges.
🦄 What do you think ? Do we look that strange ?🦄
👏 Whatever your answer is, I invite you to clap this article 👏
