Dialogue and Living Together: From Québec’s Ethics and Religious Culture Program to Democratic Deliberation

The idea of “living together” is a recurring concept in Quebec’s Ethics and Religious Culture program. It structures, through the promotion of dialog, the whole pedagogical and political project of the program, and so means much more than mere “coexistence.” This concept also extends outside the school system, in the political realm of democratic deliberation, which the program ultimately hopes to improve. We intend to examine this concept, using the disciplines of philosophy and education research, in order to show its educative meaning and political implications. Our hypothesis is that both dimensions refer to a common pedagogical paradigm that transcends the supposed dichotomy between ethics and politics.