Case Study: Heilige-Maagdcollege

Case One: making a logbook

Students read the newspapers every day. They collect some articles of topical interest that have something to do with ethics in general (immigration, racism, euthanasia, abortion, fertility, sexuality, suicide, poverty,).
Then they link the articles with the theoretical instruction during the lessons and give some personal comment. The students decorate the logbook with poetry, music or art (sometimes made by their own hands).

Later they focus on one specific theme (they collect scientific information and compare it with a variety of moral and religious opinions) that they want to present in class (using a PowerPoint presentation or other multimedia), followed by a discussion. The students lead and prepare that discussion themselves.

Contemplated objects:
Students link theoretical lessons with current affairs (they see a bigger whole)
They learn to think critically
They have to confront and defend their own opinion in a discussion
They learn to listen to one another (and sometimes their opinion changes)
Example:
One of our students has the Polish nationality, but was raised in Belgium. In his logbook he used Belgian and Polish journals and made a comparison between the values and customs of both countries and cultures (with an accent on immigration). He gave his logbook a very personal touch by telling the story of his life, being raised in between two cultures.

Case Two "for teachers" : how to deal with pupils who do not answer the standard?

Case studies for teachers: how to deal with pupils who do not answer the standard?
- commission pedagogical project (vision text)
- pedagogical seminar with theoretical introduction and case-studies of pupils with a learning or behaviour deficit:

description of a case of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and description of a case of dyslexia.

How do teachers deal with this; how do pupils react?
- working out of a care policy based on respect

Case Three: making hard choices

Students were divided in groups of 4.
Each group followed a topical theme in the press during 3 months and filed all articles found.
Next, the students organized a debate on this theme with key informants.
The data in the press file were used as input for this debate. The latter was recorded on DVD and presented to the fellow students in class.
This presentation was the trigger for a class discussion on the selected theme. Special attention went to the discussion of basic values. Some of the themes that were discussed were the election of the president in the USA, the legalization of soft-drugs, the meaning of the headscarf in the Islam, the impact of the right wing in politics, the introduction of a new prison in a local community