Experience conducted during the course 1977-1978 in English class of B.U.P. third

Abstract

This experience began when a group of students saw a newspaper article about La cogestión en la escuela. The teacher got in touch with the author of the article and after several conversations it was decided to put the system into practice. The author had been teaching the trial group for one year and had established a good working relationship. There was a very positive attitude in the class towards the subject and the pupils reacted enthusiastically to the idea. At the end of the course 2 B. U. P. they decided on the system of working for the following year. The importance of this system was considered to be the fact that the teacher gave up his position of authority within the group to become an adviser and helper. The absence of exams and the same global mark for all the pupils was intented to eliminate competition among the students and to stimulate learning for its own pleasure. It was decided to divide the group of 40 into 8 groups which corresponded roughly to their level of knowledge. As they had 3 hours per week available the working week was distributed in the following way. day First: group reading (English and American novels) day Second: class work at two different levels day Third: presentation of a class by one of the groups. It is interesting to note that the aims and objectives mentioned by the pupils at the beginning of the course assumed a very different order by the end of the course.