Discovery days at the Musée de l’Armée – Hôtel National des Invalides

For several years, the Musée de l’Armée has been developing a public policy aimed at young people, whether they are at school or with their families. Unfortunately interrupted by the health crisis in 2020, the Museum wished to resume this initiative aimed at schoolchildren as soon as possible in a desire to transmit our common history and to allow students to discover the works in coherence with their textbooks.

Issues, both civic and historical, underlie this reflection, in particular the place of the army in society, the consequences of wars and more broadly of armed conflicts, but also the relationship with others, ally or adversary of a day, a campaign, a war. These concerns are addressed in the permanent visit and in the scientific, cultural and educational program of the Museum.

The richness and variety of the Museum’s collections allows the teaching team to tackle cross-cutting themes, such as art, fashion, technology, science, video games, etc. The concrete approach given to evoking works, objects and archives makes young people aware of the many bridges that exist between the past and their everyday life, and on top of this allows them a better understanding of the theoretical elements learned during their schooling.

Supported by the Michelin Foundation since 2019 to help students come to the Hôtel des Invalides by bus, this project has made it possible from 2021 to set up “discovery days” for six classes selected in underprivileged establishments from Ile-de-France and neighboring departments.

Nearly 200 students, from CM1 or CM2, were able to benefit from a discovery day at the Musée de l’Armée, all from establishments located in priority education zones.

Back to April 14, 2022, a discovery day experimented by two classes of CM2 from the Gravelle school (Saint Maurice academy).