The French Institute of Education (IFÉ) provides research-based expertise to help teachers and educational communities rethink their approaches and methods.

• Consulting for projects initiated by the French government

    Ex: education reform

• Conducting research or projects supported by the ministry

    Ex: between 2013 and 2015, IFÉ initiated a study on "the influence of reading and writing teaching methods on the quality of early learning experiences" that was the first of its kind in France by its size, duration and the volume of data collected.

Areas of expertise

Training engineering
Designing and organizing, together with the researchers and lecturers of IFÉ, trainings for trainers and other educators in the public and private sectors.

Monitoring and analysis
Following the latest scientific and pedagogical news in the field of education to produce and disseminate consolidated resources and monthly analyses, including comparative analyses.

UNESCO Chair
Leading an international debate and generating scientific knowledge on the work and training of teachers, under the theme theme "Training teachers for the 21st century". The Chair (created in 2012) works with international laboratories in Niger, Belgium, Algeria and Canada, among others.

Observatory
Using collective expertise, consolidating a common set of knowledge and skills and producing pedagogical resources, notably for skills assessments.

Priority education
Together with the Alain Savary Center, offering a set of pedagogical resources, tools and trainings to support educators in difficult environments.

Helping young teachers
Training young teachers and helping them improve their practice via NéoPass@ction, an online training platform based on the observation and analysis of real teaching situations.

Lieux d’éducation associés (LéA)

The French Institute of Education has set up a network of "LéA" (lieux d’éducation associés), or "associated educational places". Since 2011, these bring together researchers and players in the field of education around what serves as a real-life laboratory of educational methods.

For a place to be chosen as a LéA, it needs:

• an educational challenge and questions raised by staff and management
• the involvement of a research team from the Institute
• agreement over a long-term project designed to meet that challenge

LéA in figures (2015):
35 members
189 scientific publications
80 communications and professional publications
57 educational resources

Graines d’explorateurs

Graines d’explorateurs takes pupils and their teachers out for guided nature walks to explain biodiversity, the environment, etc.

Robots in schools

The French Institute of Education is experimenting the use of 6 telepresence robots in 3 high schools: these robots enable absent pupils to continue to follow what is going on in class.
A first evaluation has shown a significant satisfaction rate from both teachers and pupils/users, as it preserves the pupil's contact with the classroom and the curriculum. A new experiment is due to be carried out in a hospital in Grenoble.

More generally, the use of telepresence robots, companion robots or support robots appears to be a promising trend in education, whether for training, team work or meetings.
The French Institute of Education has now its first own telepresence robot made by Awabot.

Connected devices to learn math?

The OCINAÉÉ project has developed a new educational game designed for elementary school pupils and based on the manipulation of objects (dice, cards, board games) connected to digital tablets via a smart little robot named Albert.

Partners:

• 2 institutions: the French Institute of Education and Erasme
• 2 companies: Awabot and DigiSchool.

Ocinaéé in figures:
26 months' duration (November 2014 - December 2016)
38 classes, from 1st to 6th grade
33 teachers
Total cost: €1.46 million including €830,000 funded by the public investment bank BPI France

From French language proficiency courses to graduate degrees, the ENS de Lyon offers opportunities in continuing education to scientists and managers already working in the public or private sector, as well as job-seekers and individuals aged 28 and over.

Refresher courses
Language lessons and short training sessions (information in French) are available all year long and can be funded by employers to help their staff improve their presentation skills, learn new software and lead special projects.

Please note that these training sessions are currently taught exclusively in French.

French language proficiency courses
Students, teachers, researchers and staff can take French language proficiency courses in the ENS de Lyon's language center, which has been awarded by the government the French as a Foreign Language quality certification.

Registration takes place in September and January each year.

Graduate degrees
All graduate degrees offered by the ENS de Lyon are open to continuing education students but registration is subject to selection based on applications.

Please note that international applicants must apply following these procedures and can contact the %20international [at] ens-lyon.fr (Office of International Affairs) for more information.

Training teachers

The key mission of the French Institute of Education (IFÉ) is to train teachers and staff of the education system using the institute's knowledge and latest research in educational science.

A tool for teachers: NéoPass@ction
An online training platform designed for teachers, featuring videos and other research projects examining teachers' educational methods.

These training opportunities are open to a wider public and in particular to teachers in the private sector.