SynLab: Turning dead ends into future opportunities

It all started with an observation: while there may be a great deal of initiatives in France which aim to promote the academic success of school pupils, they generally tend to be run alongside school, mainly via after-school support. However, if the goal is to have an impact on as many young people as possible, we need to find a way to improve learning conditions for all pupils, and that cannot be done outside school.

So, to explain how it operates, SynLab is based on what we call the “teacher effect”. “It’s a major factor,” says Elise Renaudin, Director of Partnerships for the association. “The teacher effect refers to the role that the teacher will play in a pupil’s success – a role which accounts for 30% of that success.”

The remaining 70% will involve many other criteria, the most important of which include the role of family and the pupil’s own effort. After a few years of trying things face to face, the association decided to switch over to providing digital support to reach a greater number of teachers all over France and to help make a lasting change in education from the inside.

This led, in 2017, to the EtreProf.fr platform, which was created to offer teachers a centre for resources and peer support. This tool has currently reached 10% of teachers in France. Some of the most searched topics include: How do I manage my classroom? How do I deal with noise? How do I capture the attention of my pupils? A few years later, in 2019, the association launched ManagEduc.fr to support its efforts by addressing head teachers. The platform has already reached a third of its target audience.

Future opportunities

Next, the association set its sights on vocational schools with a powerful ambition: restoring the reputation of an education pathway that, despite taking in a third of school pupils, is still seen as a dead end. “Social determinism plays a huge role in France, with 60% of school pupils on this pathway coming from disadvantaged social backgrounds,” Elise Renaudin points out. “And even though we shouldn’t make generalisations, a majority of the pupils did not choose to go to a vocational school and simply put up with the path laid out before them.”

The association therefore decided to work on the issue of motivating these pupils, so they can make this choice their own even though it might not have been initially. However, SynLab’s Director of Partnerships also emphasised the importance of acquiring soft skills for smoother integration.

Thanks to the Societe Generale The Future Is You Foundation's financing, the charity is developing oadditional teaching resources aimed at vocational schools. Then, there will be four phases of support: first, a diagnosis of what schools need, followed by access to a wealth of resources for inspiration, workshops with peers and experts, and lastly the organisation of personal mentoring sessions, especially for head teachers. The association’s target by 2023 is an ambitious one: to help 25,000 pupils on vocational pathways get their diplomas through the support of 60 schools.

“We need to present a positive view of these pathways,” insists Elise Renaudin. “But I firmly believe that innovation often happens on the fringe. It’s when you’re really up against it that you find creative solutions, and that’s why we’re interested in working with teachers at vocational schools: there is enormous potential for innovation. And we think this is how we need to approach things if we’re going to change the image people have of this education pathway.”

Photo credit: Jeswin Thomas