Prof. Yves Quéré gets students' hands dirty. As part of his mission to train the future scientific minds of the world, Quéré advocates hands-on experimentation for even the very youngest scientists. In his ideal classroom, students pose scientific questions, debate solutions in small groups, and provide their own answers. The teachers − in a deviation from their traditional role − facilitate this student-centered approach. To implant, cultivate, and retain the interest in science is at the core of his innovative program, La main à la pâte, which he developed for French schools and which now has iterations throughout the world. 

Many observers fear a shortage of scientists in the near future. This issue concerns developed, emerging, and developing countries alike. The training of young people to work in research is a vital issue − as much for the development of democracy as for our economic future.

"There are three mains reasons for this lack of interest: science (in the way that it is taught these day) is boring, is considered dangerous, and people believe they will never earn much by working in it," said the distinguished French physicist and academic back in 2004.

Following worldwide agreement with Quéré's analysis of the problem, it has become standard opinion that it is vital to begin teaching science as early as primary school if educators wish to instigate a lifelong interest in science.  

Inspired by Leon Lederman's Hands-on Schools in Chicago, and in collaboration with George Charpak (Nobel Prize Winner in Physics), and astrophysicist Pierre Léna, Quéré created La main à la pâte, a program within the French Académie des Sciences with a mission to reintroduce a passion for science in students.
 

In September Austin International School was very proud to host a special engagement with this early-education advocate. Quéré made a single Texas appearance to train science teachers from the three French-American schools in Texas on methods to engage elementary students with hands-on experiments and activities.

Events began the evening of Friday, September 11, with a well-attended public presentation, given by Quéré to parents and interested community members. The following Monday, science teachers from Dallas and Houston joined that of AIS for an intense, day-long training on effective methods for connecting with students in the areas of science and technology. Later, Quéré and the teachers joined the 5th grade classroom to implement new hands-on science activities.
 

Yves Quéré Biography

Following engineering studies at l'Ecole des Mines de Paris (1954), Yves Quéré  pursued scientific research, specializing in solid state physics, which he practiced both in fundamental and applied sciences. He then studied, amongst many topics, the properties of "crystalline defects" in metals, the effects of radiation in solids, and the interaction of particles with material, firstly at the Commissariat de l'Enérgie Atomique (CEA), and then at the prestigious l'Ecole Polytechnique from 1987 onwards.

Appointed Professor at l'Ecole Polytechnique, Quéré was elected president of the physics department and of the Senate of Professors. As the director of teaching, he greatly contributed to the introduction of biology in the General School Curriculum in France.  He has taught in numerous  schools of engineering internationally, including in the USA, Latin America, China, and Russia.

He joined the French Académie des Sciences in 1980, later serving eight years as their  International Relations Delegate. This in turn led to his being elected co-chair of the Interacademy Panel (IAP), a group of 100 science academies from around the world. Through this position, he was able to enhance the international collaboration between the science academies and have "Statements" adopted  for  submission to the United Nations and governments, on topics relating to science teaching, ethics, teaching of evolution, biological weapons, and health of women and children.

Since 1996, the team of George Charpak, Pierre Léna, and Yves Quéré, under the French Académie des Sciences, has collaborated with schools in France and abroad to reintroduce the teaching of science by emphasizing experimentation and investigation. The project, inspired by the American experiment Hands-on Schools by Leon Lederman and now known as La main à la pâte, has proved its success in France and is currently being implemented around the world.

 

View the press release (.pdf)

 

View the conference (flash)

 

Resources:

 

La main à la pâte: www.lamap.fr

 

Yves Quéré: www.yves-quere.fr

 

Interacademy Panel on International Issues (consortium of world academies of science) www.interacademies.net

 

 

AIS teachers Ana Wallace and Mathilde Pissonnier.	Yves Quere visits CM classroom.	CM student responds to teacher Sandy Southwell.
Science teachers from AIS, Awty, and Dallas international schools; Yves Quere (2nd from left) & AIS Executive Director Eric Thuau (4th from right).	Quere with teacher Cedric Herve.	Quere in training.
CM student works on a science lesson.	Quere and CM students.	In training.
Quere and CM students.	CM students and teachers Melanie Vincent and Cedric Herve with Professor Quere.	Quere training teachers.