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PALETTE is an educationnal project which
seeks to preserve cultural and traditional heritage though the use of new
information and communication technology.
PALETTE provides teachers with educational tools such as albums and story
collections as well as the means to introduce children to the foundations
of science and technology at an early age.
As the painter's palette uses different colors
to create a painting, PALETTE uses diverse innovations to train the citizens
of tomorrow.
To offer information concerning the motivations,
methods, and the challenges inherent in the production and use of the PALETTE
project and to make them available to everyone, everywhere. Searching the
site can:
a) Provide parents with all the information necessary to maximize their capacity
to take part in the education of their children,
b) Support the expansion of the PALETTE project in Senegal and abroad, in
hopes of attaining educational and cultural successes similar to those obtained
in Yoff,
c) Contribute to the search for financing for PALETTE, which until recently
has been entirely sustained by private donations and the NGO CRESP.
Introduction to PALETTE Teaching Methods
This manual is a collection of traditional tales, often in the form of fables,
that are destined for the students of Yoff’s elementary schools. Envisioned
as a tool for investigating the marvellous universe of local culture, the
manual evokes important aspects of every-day life through stories, thus allowing
younger generations to discover moral lessons, forge opinions, make judgements;
in brief, to situate themselves in their community. The fable is defined as
a story recounted from generation to generation in order to entertain, educate,
and pass on moral guidelines to its listeners. Its primary merit is thus the
use of fiction to help us reflect on reality. Most of the fables in this collection
depict animals whose adventures and misadventures mirror human behavior. The
teacher’s task will thus be to extract the message from the stories’
symbolism in order to develop the student’s imagination, sensibility,
and logical thinking. Given that fables share similar themes around the world,
it is essential to consider the cultural milieu that makes these stories unique
in addition to the type of message being communicated and its educational
potential. Due to the level of complexity in the original stories, the production
team has simplified and adapted the narrative structures. Storytelling is
a language-based activity. Each tale establishes communication—on one
hand, between the teacher and the student; on the other hand, between the
students themselves—and thus favors an interactive approach. It is therefore
an effective method for teaching language skills while also motivating and
promoting interdisciplinary thinking. Each chapter in the collection features
an illustration depicting the story’s most exciting or memorable moment
and often a Wolof proverb. Finally, it is up to the user of this collection,
whether teacher, student, or parent, to pursue the rich possibilities for
applying these fables to interactively teach students to write, read, and
communicate effectively.