The improvisation classroom [Thesis]

Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977)

The unexpected punctuates the daily routine of our private and professional lives. In the professional context, some of us are more or less able to prepare for the unexpected by trying to anticipate it in order to deal with it.

However, as the future remains uncertain, the unexpected will always be unexpected, and that's when we need to make quick decisions. Our adrenalin rises, and so begins the wonderful and perilous adventure of improvisation.

Improvisation can be built consciously or unconsciously on experience or theoretical learning. Once it's over, we can evaluate its quality and effects to arm ourselves for similar experiences in the future.

This feedback, on a moment of improvisation, seems to constitute a learning mechanism that enables the construction of the self and the development of a certain form of professionalism.

Here we are plunged into the subject of Guillaume Azéma 's thesis entitled "L'improvisation selon les enseignants entrant dans le métier. A cognitive anthropology approach", which aims to understand how improvisation can be a key element in the self-construction and professional development of new teachers.

Why try this adventure?

This thesis, through the body of research it formalizes and compiles, is packed with information and observations that will enable us to better understand the construction of a new teacher's identity and professional posture.

The manuscript follows a standard but no less effective academic structure, comprising an introduction, the establishment of its problematic, the study of the theoretical and methodological framework, presentation of the results and discussion, ending with a conclusion.

• In the section devoted to problematization, the author justifies the innovation, interest and relevance of his research question by presenting his research framework.
  
  
• In the second part, he develops the theoretical and methodological framework of the central theme of his research, from which the hypotheses emerge, as well as the methods for testing them.
  
  
• In the third section, the author presents his findings, followed by a discussion comparing them with previous knowledge on the subject.

The narrative structure of the text and the author's brief clarifications enable the different parts and chapters to fit together logically and fluidly, allowing us to immerse ourselves in this research work.

Guillaume Azéma's style and tone, at once authentic and formal, not only help us to understand his work as a whole, but also to appreciate the importance of improvisation, which at first glance may seem trivial, in the development and professionalization of teachers.

On the fly

"I generally enjoy taking the side roads. They often open up under the footsteps of a few waterfowl, inviting you to walk slowly, attentively, and leading to places - valley bottoms, sides of curves or promontories - where, forked and scratched, you can appreciate the landscape in an unusual dimension. The present research has consisted in apprehending my own profession in the same way as one would take pleasure, in a place visited a thousand times, in trying again to be surprised there; as one would approach an island, where one lives, but in a way that makes it foreign, unknown to us, by risking a deserted or even inadvisable sector, where there are scarcely any animal tracks.

This thesis focuses more specifically on the work of neo-teachers in classroom interaction. More specifically, it seeks to describe and understand the activity that, for them, goes by the name of improvisation. We support the thesis that improvisational activity, insofar as it is marked by the novelty-surprise-uncertainty complex, is a high point in the dynamic coupling between an actor and his environment (including social), and as such, a major movement in self-construction and professional development."

Making beef

This thesis shows that the activity of new teachers veers between two extremes that it never touches: exclusive improvisation and the absence of improvisation. By interweaving cognitive dynamics, invention, attention and socialization, improvisation seems to be a key element for neo-teachers, enabling them to become one with their environment, build their self and develop their teaching professionalism.

Guillaume Azéma proposes what he calls a "modest" remodeling of teacher training, in which he calls for the continuation and promotion of a work of invention based on the principle of equality of intelligence between the actors of the teacher/trainer and learner pair. This work of invention, involving all these players, would be based on support, information, awakening and inspiration, on a foundation of trust and high standards.

The show must go on

The author's research highlights the fact that improvisation processes seem to be involved in the development of both the self and professionalism beyond the neo-teacher population alone. Guillaume Azéma then proposes to explore the contribution of impromptu for many other professions, such as the medical, craft or farming professions.

Using a musical analogy, this thesis invites us to distinguish between perceived and real improvisation. For example, a certain degree of mastery on the part of the actor may be considered improvisation by his spectators, while in other cases real improvisation may go unnoticed by the latter. It is therefore interesting to ask how this shift between real improvisation and the illusion of improvisation is achieved.

These studies also show that improvisation can be a source of astonishment for learners, who are intrigued by this off-track behaviour and become more attentive and interested in what the teacher has to say. This hypothesis about astonishment is now supported by other academic studies that present astonishment as a lever for learning and professional development in various trades.

We can then ask ourselves how much improvisation has enabled us to become the professionals we are today, but also whether we should continue to employ these byways to unknown destinations to strengthen our expertise and skills for the trades we'll be doing tomorrow.

So, are you ready to improvise?

Enjoy your reading

Thesis presented and defended on December 15, 2015. Work carried out within the doctoral school Langues, Littératures, Cultures et Civilisation: ED 58 and the interdisciplinary laboratory research unit in Didactics Education and Training: EA 3749. Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3 (Montpellier, France).

Sources

Guillaume Azéma. Improvisation according to teachers entering the profession: a cognitive anthropology approach. Linguistics. Université Paul Valéry - Montpellier III, 2015. French. ⟨NNT: 2015MON30039⟩. ⟨tel-01689093v2⟩

Thesis link:

Page: https: //hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01689093v2
PDF: https: //tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01689093v2/document

Author's publication on the same subject

Guillaume Azéma. Improvisation and the ordinary work of teachers entering the profession. What kind of activity? What's at stake? @ctivités, Association Recherches et Pratiques sur les ACTivités, 2019, ⟨10.4000/activites.3941⟩. ⟨hal-02301061⟩

PDF: http: //journals.openedition.org/activites/pdf/3941