Célestin Freinet

French pedagogue

Célestin Freinet (seləsˈtɛ̃ fʀeˈnɛ, 15 October 1896 in Gars, Alpes Maritimes – 8 October 1966 in Vence) was a noted French pedagogue and educational reformer.

Freinet was born in Provence as the fifth of eight children. His own schooldays were deeply unpleasant to him and would affect his teaching methods and desire for reform. In 1915 he was recruited into the French army and was wounded in the lung, an experience that led him to becoming a resolute pacifist. In 1920 he became an elementary schoolteacher in the village of Le Bar sur Loup. It was here that Freinet began to develop his teaching methods. He married Élise Lagier in 1926.

In 1923 Freinet purchased a printing press, originally to assist with his teaching, since his lung injury made it difficult for him to talk for long periods. It was with this press he printed free texts and class newspapers for his students. The children would compose their own works on the press and would discuss and edit them as a group before presenting them as a team effort. They would regularly leave the classroom to conduct field trips. The newspapers were exchanged with those from other schools. Gradually the group texts replaced conventional school books. Freinet created the teachers' trade union C. E. L. (Coopérative de l'Enseignement Laïc) in 1924, from which arose the French teacher movement Modern School Movement (Mouvement de l'École Moderne). The goal of the C. E. L was to change public education from the inside with the co operation of teachers. Freinet's teaching methods were at variance with official policy of the National Education Board, and he resigned from it in 1935 to start his own school in Vence.

Freinet's work lives on in the name of Pédagogie Freinet, or the Freinet Modern School Movement, practised in many countries worldwide. Guided Functional Peer Support is primarily based on his pedagogic work. The Freinet classification ("To organise everything") is used in the libraries of some elementary schools, and was invented by Célestin Freinet to facilitate the easy finding of documents, and the use of the "Bibliothèque de travail". The Institut universitaire de formation des maîtres (teacher training university) of Nice bears the name of Célestin Freinet.

The Modern School Movement or Mouvement de l'École Moderne, based on the practices of the Freinets, has become an international network of educators and schools. In 1957, the International Federation of Modern School Movements (FIMEM) was founded to organize national groups around the world. They hold an international congress every two years to coordinate work and exchange ideas.

1946: L'École Moderne Française. 1994: Œuvres pédagogiques, 2 vols. Paris: Seuil. (Edited by Madeleine Bens Freinet, introduction par Jacques Bens:
Tome 1 : L’éducation du travail [1942 1943] – Essai de psychologie sensible appliquée à l’éducation [1943]. Tome 2 : L’école moderne française [1943. Autre titre : Pour l'école du peuple, 1969] – Les dits de Matthieu [1954] – Méthode naturelle de lecture [1963] – Les invariants pédagogiques [1964] – Méthode naturelle de dessin – Les genèses. Touché ! Souvenirs d'un blessé de guerre, récit, Ateliers du Gué, 1996.