Johanne Lebrun

Past and Current Trends in the Analysis of Textbooks in a Quebec Context

Abstract This article draws from two research programs on the use of textbooks for a variety of school subjects by elementary-school teachers in Quebec. Highlighting the main analytical orientations pertaining to textbooks both in Quebec and elsewhere, it first distinguishes between textbooks and schoolbooks, and then presents the importance and the role that textbooks, in Quebec elementary teaching, have had over the past 40 years. Lastly, the article portrays the state of research on textbooks, unveiling the need for a comprehensive, situated approach in research on textbooks, as well as work focused on how teachers use them and on the impact of this use on both practice and learning.

Characteristics and Contributions of School Subjects at the Elementary Level: Results of a Survey of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers from Four Quebec Universities.

This article presents the results of a survey questionnaire involving 841 third and fourth year students enrolled in a French language Bachelors degree program in Elementary Education at four Quebec universities. The questionnaire dealt with pre‐service elementary teachers’ representations of the teaching and learning of four school subjects: Mathematics, Language Arts, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. The results show, among other things, that the curricular reform that reconfigures the contribution of the different school subjects is rarely mentioned in the pre‐service teachers’ discourse on their teaching practice.

O papel secundário dos saberes disciplinares no discurso dos futuros professores do primário: reflexo da relação estabelecida com as finalidades da escola?

O artigo apresenta os resultados de duas pesquisas realizadas com futuros professores do primario na provincia de Quebec (Canada), em relacao as finalidades educacionais associadas a diferentes disciplinas escolares. A analise dos dados revela que a contribuicao das disciplinas escolares e definida, principalmente, em funcao da capacidade que elas possuem de instrumentalizar os alunos para a vida cotidiana em microcosmos sociais, e sua utilidade se traduz mais no plano da satisfacao das necessidades individuais que nos planos social e cientifico. Nesse sentido, os alunos sao levados a adquirir e a manipular conhecimentos disciplinares, sem necessariamente conhecer as problematicas e as premissas fundamentais subjacentes ao processo pelo qual tais conhecimentos sao produzidos. Os saberes disciplinares tornar-se-iam, assim, instrumentos neutros ao servico da subjetividade do aluno. O foco na instrumentalizacao do individuo sugere, portanto, uma atitude de solicitude que visa proteger os alunos das armadilhas da vida.This text presents the results of two questionnaire-based surveys conducted with future primary school teachers in Quebec, concerning the overall educational aims associated with different school subjects. Analysis of the results shows that the contributions from school subjects are primarily defined according to their ability to equip students for everyday life in social microcosms. Indeed, school subjects are considered useful in meeting individual needs rather than at social and scientific levels. In this sense, students would be led to acquire and manipulate disciplinary knowledge without being aware of the underlying problems and premises from the process through which such knowledge is produced. Disciplinary knowledge would thus become a neutral tool serving the subjectivity of the student. Focusing on the instrumentalization of the individuals suggests an attitude of concern seeking to protect students from the risks of life.