International Education and Training at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausées/La Formation a l'international a l'Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées

The programme of the Département de la Formation Internationale at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausées (ENPC) was created in 1981 to address the ever‐increasing international role of today's engineer in the scientific, economic and social spheres. Each year, 75 ENPC students spend at least 3 months abroad, mainly in Europe. ENPC has double degree programmes in engineering studies with three European partners in Germany and Spain: TU Munich and TU Berlin; Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Twenty per cent of the student curriculum is devoted to language study; the students are required to study English plus one of the following languages: German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese or Chinese. French courses for foreign students are also provided. Language teaching aims to provide students not only with the linguistic skills necessary for communication, but also to make them more sensitive to other cultures as well as their own.     

I am sailing—towards a transactional analysis of ‘body techniques’

In recent years there has been a growing interest in questions related to embodiment and learning. Within the field of ‘body pedagogics’ great efforts have been made to develop theory and methodology that can deal with the corporeal aspects of experience and knowledge without adopting any form of dualistic conceptions of body/mind and organism/environment. This article connects to this body of research. The purpose is to first present a synthesis of James' radical empiricism, Dewey's transactional understanding of experience and learning and Marcel Mauss' concept of ‘body techniques’ and the notion of education embedded in it. Against the background of this theoretical development, and with a Transactional Model of Analyzing Bodying (TMAB), we then show how we can analytically come to terms with different dualistic problems that research into ‘body pedagogics’ has to deal with. We use an empirical example of dinghy sailing to create knowledge about what we learn when learning embodied knowledge, and how this learning takes place. We argue that experience is an important concept for understanding the acting knowing human being, describing how experience is organized and developed and outlining how this organization can be understood as learning. We hold that situations where someone learns to embody certain knowledge are cases of overt actions, in which we can see what kinds of relations are created and how these relations become meaningful for further action.     

Bergmann,Jonathan & Sams,Aaron (2014) Flipped learning. ISTE (Washington & Eurospan,London) isbn 978‐1‐56484‐344‐9 227 pp £18.50 https://www.iste.org/resources/product?ID=3014

This deceptively simple book aims to show how flipped learning optimises class time, by delivering direct instruction by video for students to use outside of class, freeing up teachers to individualise their learning in the classroom. It is essentially a “book of stories” for teachers shared by practising teachers who have enthusiastically embraced this model. I strongly recommend that you buy Flipped learning if it is in your area of interest. Marie Martin     

The importance of reflection in experiential learning with community and youth workers for the learning age

The New Labour government, in its Green Paper on the Learning Age, published in February 1998, put lifelong learning at the heart of its programme. In this article we aim to demonstrate that there is a direct parallel between the processes outlined in the Green Paper and the processes of experiential learning and community development by focusing on the Diploma in Community and Youth Work Studies run by the Community Work Unit (CWU) based in the Centre for the Development of Continuing Education at the University of Manchester.

Community action provides a setting for informal education. Community workers are in a unique position in relation to developing the potential for learning in the groups and individuals with whom they work. Their education and training should enable them to articulate and value their experience and reflect upon it in order to establish a meaningful basis for further self- and/or community development. We will explore how the CWU uses participative learning methods which recognize, value and use the experience and understanding of the participants as a basis for their own and others’ learning, and the relevance of these learning methods to the work practice of the participants.     

Biodeterioration of Incralac used for the protection of bronze monuments

Outdoor bronze sculptures are highly susceptible to corrosion in many environments and organic coatings are widely used for their protection. The purpose of this study was to determine the susceptibility of the commonly used coating Incralac to biodeterioration by microorganisms. A yeast was isolated from a bronze statue treated with Incralac and its ability to degrade Incralac was determined using growth curves, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The organism grew slowly on Incralac in liquid culture, but SEM images demonstrated its ability to adhere to Incralac coated metal. Additionally, the yeast caused a rapid drop in the low frequency impedance of Incralac coated metal that was not observed under sterile conditions, indicating that the organism accelerated deterioration of the coating. The potential for microbial growth to accelerate deterioration of Incralac should be considered when developing a maintenance strategy for the protection of outdoor metal monuments.