We are thrilled to announce that the Lycée will be facilitating an International Education Exchange Program this year in collaboration with NYU’s Institute of French Studies. Lycée students will obtain college-level training in history and sociology, and NYU graduate students will gain mentors among the Lycée’s vibrant faculty. NYU visiting faculty will even participate in Y9 students’ upcoming Day of Understanding. The enriched relationship between our two institutions will surely pave the way for many fruitful innovations and exchanges to come.
“We are delighted by this new partnership between the Lycée Français and NYU’s Institute of French Studies. It is a perfect intellectual and pedagogical match!” said the director of IFS, Stéphane Gerson, at a welcome reception on Tuesday, November 6th, where 15 mentors and 15 mentees met for the first time.
Lycée faculty who will be participating in the mentorship program belong to the departments of History-Geography, French, Maths, Physical Education, and Modern Languages (Mandarin). The program will last from November 7, 2018 to March 8, 2019, with a certification ceremony to take place at NYU on March 12.
“The IFS has been pioneering pluridisciplinary studies of French civilization and Francophone cultures for 40 years,” says teacher and History Department head, Dr. Arthur Plaza, who helped lead the way in organizing this partnership. “We are excited to have them as a partner to welcome our faculty to workshops at NYU. NYU will also provide college-level seminars to groups of Y11 students in the spring.”
Allison Korinek, a participating mentee who is currently pursuing her PhD in History at NYU, adds: “It’s an opportunity to see a different style of teaching.”
The details of the mentorship program are as follows:
- IFS students will conduct 9 periods of classroom observations of a French Secondary faculty member who will act as their mentor;
- After 9 hours of observation, the IFS students will plan with their faculty mentor a lesson on their own, in accordance with a pre-determined clinical cycle:
- 3 hours of the clinical cycle include: a planning meeting- teaching a lesson- a post-conference with the faculty mentor;
- The Lycée faculty mentor will attend an IFS course, workshop, or public event with their IFS mentee;
- Upon successful completion of a clinical teaching cycle, the Lycée will provide the IFS student with a certificate for completing the International Education Exchange Program.
Audrey Peverelli, the Lycée’s Head of School, agrees that the partnership is mutually beneficial: “The benefit of exchanges between languages is to see different ways of doing and seeing things. This is more of an exchange than a mentorship.”
About the Author :
Rachel Veroff joined the Lycée’s Communications team in 2018. She brings to the school her interest in storytelling and bilingual culture.