The first fundamental stages of learning were Jeannine Manuel’s primary focus. Her methods followed that of the scientific method and included:

• Studying children closely and making careful and precise observations;
• Following intuitions based on research and making hypotheses;
• Designing efficient experiments and evaluating their results;
• Being always prepared to change for the better

Research in the field of cognitive science has proved Jeannine Manuel’s intuitions to be quite accurate—our school owes her its visionary approach.

Jeannine Manuel was equally an excellent mentor to many of her teachers, to whom she often repeated her fundamental principles, which have remained a driving force for our school since 1954:

• Have big ambitions, children can get very far;
• Learning must be fun and captivating;
• Children must be conscious of what they have learned; this will give them the confidence and motivation to learn even more;
• Be positive, encouraging, and take an interest in each individual child and their needs.

How do we learn? Stanislas Dehaene, professor at the Collège de France, has identified four key pillars of learning:

1.  Concentration: the driving force of learning.
2. Active participation: this is the key to concentration. Students are concentrated when they are actively participating—teachers must find a way to make sure they do this.
3. Feedback: the brain learns from its mistakes. Making mistakes and learning from them stimulates learning. Regular tests allow students to realize their mistakes and to learn from them through regular feedback.
4. Knowledge consolidation : moving from slowly and consciously processing information to doing so quickly and automatically, with little concentration required. Sleep habits play an important part in this shift.

Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (a book all parents should read!), invites us to view success differently:

• The brain has almost no limits, each person has a huge potential for progress that can be achieved through effort.
• You need to make mistakes in order to understand that “failing is growing”; children must be given tasks that seem difficult to them. Completing these tasks while making mistakes along the way is fundamental to understanding that effort leads to success.
• It is important to actively practice this revitalizing mindset that makes one appreciate the value of effort and take pride in one’s progress.

This growth mindset has become a source of inspiration for our entire school community at École Jeannine Manuel.