Alfred de Musset IN New-York

Educational Project of the Locali-zed scholastic unity for inclusion "ULIS" of André Malraux secondary school, Marseille.

The ULIS of André Malraux’s secondary school of Marseille, 13013, welcomes students with important mental or cognitive troubles as well as students with learning and language di-sabilities.

The context

find its position and make the group work as a whole while respecting each one’s personality and diffe-rences.

In order to do so, every pupil is part of an educatio-nal individualized project defined by the teaching code and requires support from the MDPH (Regional house for handicapped people).

All pupils whose situation meets the law’s definition of handicap are concerned.

Every pupil of the package is first of all a pupil of a class relating to his age category and not to his scholastic level.

This package takes action as a schooling support: - Differentiation and adjustment of the teachings

among his class; - Particular teachings regarding the pupil’s abilities

and difficulties among the ULIS group.

All of our pupils encounter important learning disabili-ties related to their troubles. Those difficulties are roo-ted in their family story, their medical past or present, their social and /or psychological difficulties.

The balance of the relationships between the pupils of the package is very delicate: we learn to compro-mise and help each other in order for everyone to

Consists in a theatrical performance in the USA after a uniting work in which differences would be blurred in favor of cohesion and solidarity.

New York’s Lycée français is awaiting us in April 2019 with a troupe of 30 pupils among which 18

are part of the ULIS package and 18 other pupils who are volunteers in the beneficiary classes.

The whole of the pupils will commit when they get back to school in September 2018 in a bi-weekly workshop to produce the theatrical performance. They are part of the trip’s preparation, to the wri-ting of the letters to the Lycée français , to the fi-nancing actions and to the preparation of the schedule.

The pupils are strongly involved participants of the project.

Educational Organisation - Weekly workshop: rehearsals with directors, work on

stage expression, work on space, memory, spelling and self confidence;

- Temporary workshop: preparation of financing actions, program and organisation of the trip….

- Epistolary exchange both handwritten and digital with the French classes of the Lycée français.

In return, one of the classes of the Lycée français of New York will also prepare a play to be presented to our pupils during our trip.

Like any teamwork, once approved by the initiating, the project becomes the group’s one. It takes it over, adapts and operates it.

Indeed, this action gives rise to other essential points as regards the objectives of André Malraux school that apply to students as well as adults.

- Teamwork through a common medium; - Partnership: welcome centres, families, and social

services… - Schedule organisation thanks to the implication of

everyone.

This project is everyone’s and we have come to realize that everyone is supporting this project that they can take over.

We will be performing in the prestigious Lycée Fran-çais in New York and display a work based on a sentimental plot story called « On ne badine pas avec l’amour » by Alfred de Musset. De Musset’s work, published in 1834 in La Revue des deux mondes was first presented in November 1861 at the Comédie française.

The project

The reasons of this project

In September 2015, a ULIS package is created in Malraux secondary school in Marseille.

Among the 12 pupils involved, 7 are part of the package since their first year in secondary school.

For the years 2018-2019, those 7 pupils will be in 3e, which will be their last year at secondary school.

Sharing an unforgettable exceptional stay that would end their secondary school scholarship will certainly give an added value to their professional future, which is among our goals in this project.

The pupils ‘s social and family context may entail that this project might be their only opportunity to discover such a distant and special country.

We aim at giving them a tangible access to a new culture= firstly with theatre and secondly with the « American dream ».

Finally, we consider as essential to share a complete adventure with the pupils with handicap.

The over time impact of the project

School is the place where handicapped or non handicapped children acquire the skills that will become essential al their lives long, way beyond their scholarship, to follow their training, build their personal and professional future, succeed in their social lives and practice their free citizenship: - Learning to live together in a democratic republi-

can society; - Developing independence, responsibility, opening

to others, self respect as well as respect to others, exercising a critical mind;

- Acquiring elementary knowledge; - Developing their cognitive abilities; - Giving meaning to the learning process; - Stimulating creativity and curiosity; - Understanding their environment; - Discovering men’s universality the better to accept

their differences; - Building their own life project.

Conclusion

Performing a play, conveying a message, unders-tanding and interpreting it is already a challenge in itself for our pupils.

Today, during the gatherings around the project, the cohesion between the various participants (students, parents, educational members) is already remarkable. The handicap is gradually fading in favor of complicity solidarity and acceptance of differences.

Travelling and making them discover their dream country is a challenge, and the combination with the theatrical culture is an added value that will settle perma-nently for everyone and will probably be a source of energy in their future as citi-zens and human beings.