Loris Quêtu

Shaking up the school to reconcile knowledge and students

Graduated from Arizona State University and Université Paris-Saclay, Loris Quêtu is a teacher, instructional engineer, co-founder of ArcNova Education, and an alumnus of the French-American Foundation. "Young in the profession but driven by a deep conviction: the French educational system, as it is structured today, no longer meets the challenges of our time. It remains trapped in patterns inherited from another century, in which the teacher is still too often seen as the sole holder of knowledge, and the student as a passive receptacle. I do not recognize myself in this posture, and I firmly believe that school must be profoundly rethought. The National Education system, despite successive reform attempts, continues to operate on a vertical logic, centered on top-down transmission and conformity. This model dates back more than forty years, or even a century if we trace back to the foundations of the republican school, and it is becoming less and less compatible with a world where knowledge is accessible in just a few clicks, where key skills are no longer just cognitive, but also social, emotional, digital, and critical. I advocate for a school that restores the central role of the student. It is no longer just about teaching, but about enabling students to learn by themselves, with each other, and in constant interaction with the real world. This implies rethinking the teacher's role, no longer as a mere transmitter, but as a facilitator, a mediator, a mentor. A figure of support rather than authority. Digital technology, in this regard, is a powerful lever. Not a gadget, nor a mere substitute tool, but a pedagogical accelerator, a space for creation, collaboration, and inclusion. My students produce, explore, question, and build their own resources. I rely on practices from flipped pedagogy, project-based learning, and design thinking. I implement collaborative tools (shared digital boards, podcasts, video capsules, educational artificial intelligence) so that students become authors of their knowledge, not just executors. I also want to question assessment: why continue grading as we did in 1960? Why this obsession with averages, rankings, and control? I believe in formative assessments, constructive feedback, and portfolio logics where the student can track their own progress. What I advocate is not a more "fun" school, nor a cheap school. It is a more demanding school, but a demand driven by meaning, engagement, and accountability. A school where we learn to learn, to cooperate, to reflect, to create. A school that prepares for the complexity of the world, not just to check boxes. I am aware that this position may be unsettling. It disrupts habits, representations, and securities. But I am convinced that our mission, as teachers, is also to open breaches, provoke shifts, and make other forms of learning possible. I want to make my students informed, critical, and autonomous citizens. It is at this price that school will regain its transformative power."