Duplicate for On the Roots of Education by Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet

By winning the Humans-Nature Jury Prize and the Discovery Public Prize with his painting depicting outdoor education, Professor Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet has doubly won his bet to give the humanities and social issues the upper hand in this colorful competition to popularize science.

The holder of the research chair for nature education used this popular Acfas competition to highlight a topic close to his heart.

“When educational situations are meaningful and connected to our environment, we send the message to students that exams are not the main purpose of school. What we learn must have meaning in our daily lives. IN In the roots of education, we have two trees and their roots firmly anchored in the ground supporting two children who are in an educational situation in mathematics. These trees represent the wisdom of adults, such as school teachers, who watch carefully over children as they learn through concrete experience. »

For Professor Ayotte-Beaudet, this competition was a good opportunity to overturn some preconceived notions:

This award is very important because educational research is very much alive in Quebec and needs to be better known to the general population. In the field of outdoor education, for example, we seek to better understand the contexts and conditions that promote benefits across a variety of dimensions: cognitive, physical, psychological, social and eco-civic. For teachers, I especially hope that this award will confirm that they are legitimate in their practices.

Professor Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet, holder of the research chair for nature education

Photo presentation In the roots of education

Outdoor education is experiencing incredible growth in Quebec. Its benefits have been widely documented, both for contact with nature and on a cognitive, physical, psychological and social level. However, new data collection tools are needed to evaluate learning. In December 2022, a team from the University of Sherbrooke spent a day observing first-year students in Ms. Marie-Line’s class at the Académie des Sacré-Cœurs. These two children, in the foreground, are methodically marking a gnome path before Christmas for a math activity. Maximum one meter in a straight line! Then, the fork! That’s the rule among gnomes…