UNESCO Clearinghouse on GCED

The Role of Teachers in Education and Democracy: The Impact of a Research Project on Preservice Teacher Perceptions Year of publication: 2015 Author: Gina Thésée | Paul R. Carr | Franck Potwora Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education This article presents reflections on a survey questionnaire related to the connection between education and democracy. A sample of 157 teacher-education students in Montreal completed a follow-up questionnaire after having participated in a research questionnaire (first study) concerning their perception and experience of the linkage between education and democracy. The first study underscored a weak democratic experience as well as an educational journey without a strong linkage to democracy, which concurs with our previous findings. However, the results of the follow-up survey indicate that participation in this inquiry generated socio-educational, epistemological, pedagogical, and methodological reflections, which could have significant implications for the perception of the role of educators.

Indicators of the Concept of Secularism in the Context of Conversations Between Teachers on the Topic of Civic Education in High Schools Year of publication: 2015 Author: Sylvie Courtine Sinave | France Jutras Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education As part of a collaborative research project on civic education, conversations between high school teachers and faculty were analyzed from the perspective of indicators of secularism, namely, freedom of conscience and religion as they relate to tolerance, equality of rights, fraternity, emancipation, separation between church and state, and law and order. The results show that, according to these educators, the role of the school is paramount to the learning of social behaviour and that some values related to secularism are actualized in the context of teaching history and civic education, such as the primacy of human rights, emancipation, and the importance of the public space.

Dialogue and Living Together: From Québec’s Ethics and Religious Culture Program to Democratic Deliberation Year of publication: 2013 Author: André Duhamel | Mireille Estivalèzes Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education 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.

Concepts and Actors’ Perceptions of Living Together in Basic Education Textbooks in Ivory Coast Year of publication: 2013 Author: Goïta Ouattara Kanndanan Insiata Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education This article first highlights the concepts of living together in basic education textbooks in Ivory Coast. Second, it identifies the perceptions of these concepts by the actors (trainers and learners) as well as the media used for instruction. To address these two concerns, the methodology consisted of a content analysis of textbooks and current program guides, as well as an analysis of interviews with the actors. The results indicate that solidarity, peace, tolerance, discipline, and inter-ethnic alliance are concepts, among others, taught to instil a culture of peace in potential future socio-political actors. In addition, these concepts are positively perceived and appropriated by the actors.

The Failure of Living-Together in Rwanda: What is the Responsibility of History Textbooks? Year of publication: 2013 Author: Éric Mutabazi Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education Rwanda, landlocked in the Great Lakes region in Central Africa, has known war and massacres resulting in the 1994 genocide. Many critics and researchers have attempted to explain the reasons behind the inhuman and monstrous massacres that ravaged this country. While political, historical and economical factors are more often invoked to justify these horrible events, this article seeks to draw attention to the responsibility of history textbooks in the failure of living-together in pre-genocide Rwanda. Our analysis of textbook content reveals that certain values transmitted through the teaching of Rwanda’s history has generated injustice, inequality, victimisation, suffering, etc., at school and in society. We attempt to demonstrate how textbook content contributed to the failure of living-together in Rwanda and we propose alternative perspectives to guide the development of content that can contribute to peace, unity and living-together in post-genocide Rwanda.

The Role of Teachers in Education and Democracy: The Impact of a Research Project on Preservice Teacher Perceptions Year of publication: 2015 Author: Gina Thésée | Paul R. Carr | Franck Potwora Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education This article presents reflections on a survey questionnaire related to the connection between education and democracy. A sample of 157 teacher-education students in Montreal completed a follow-up questionnaire after having participated in a research questionnaire (first study) concerning their perception and experience of the linkage between education and democracy. The first study underscored a weak democratic experience as well as an educational journey without a strong linkage to democracy, which concurs with our previous findings. However, the results of the follow-up survey indicate that participation in this inquiry generated socio-educational, epistemological, pedagogical, and methodological reflections, which could have significant implications for the perception of the role of educators.

These Stories are From the Past: Feminism in History and Citizenship Textbooks as Seen by Grade 10 Quebec Students (McGill Journal of Education; Vol. 52, No. 2) Year of publication: 2017 Author: Marie-Hélène Brunet Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education The article looks at the way students interact with content related to feminism in history textbooks. A questionnaire was distributed to 575 Québec high school students in order to identify their conceptions of textbooks and feminism. Nine students then participated in interviews to assess their understanding of the role of women’s agency in history as well as their reaction to contradictory narratives. The results show the importance of considering students’ representations of the past in order to evaluate the mediation process. A very high proportion of students (88 %) considered the textbook to be a reflection of objective truth. They seemed uncomfortable when completing the task and tried to lessen the differences between narratives while selecting the elements corresponding to their initial conceptions. A majority of the students were able, in varied ways, to differentiate the texts in depending on their agency.

Fostering Intercultural Perspectives of Future Teachers Year of publication: 2012 Author: Marilyn Steinbach Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education This article describes pedagogical activities in teacher education. The objective is to make intercultural education more pertinent for future teachers and to broaden their intercultural perspectives to enable them to work more effectively in pluriethnic environments. This study emphasizes the importance of experiences and personal contacts, and promotes changes in students’ perspectives, focusing on the sense of intercultural education, and contributing to the methodology of intercultural education in teacher education.

From Ethnocultural Diversity to Living Together: Examples of Future Teachers Using a Multicultural Approach to Education Year of publication: 2010 Author: Mirela Moldoveanu Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education This text looks at how future teachers define multicultural education in order to discover its relevance and objectives in the context of living together. Nine masters students in an initial teacher training program at an Ontario university participated in an exploratory research study using qualitative data. The interpretation of the results led to the construction of a multicultural education model that attempts to legitimize the data within the framework of a differentiated pedagogical approach.

Can “Living Together” Be Taught? Year of publication: 2013 Author: Maxime Plante Corporate author: McGill University. Faculty of Education The need to teach how to “live together” demonstrates its problematic nature. Indeed, is not living together problematic because it implies that we must by all means coexist, self and other, that is to say, to “live together” despite difference? Is it really possible to bring about a respect for this injunction through education? Two pitfalls are to be avoided. On one hand, that of an hermeneutical approach to education, which may violate the principle of respect for otherness even as it purports to teach it. On the other hand, that of considering ethics simply as total openness to difference. Between these two pitfalls is a difficult path to negotiate, that of a responsibility to educational choices inevitably bound to betray the Other.

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