7th International Conference on the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (CITAD7)

The increasing dissemination of the anthropological theory of the didactic raises a major problem in many intertwined questions. One of these questions is the degree of penetration of the ATD into a variety of fields of didactic research, well beyond mathematics (from which it originates), from literature to science through art or information technology. A companion question is, how do researchers use the ATD, and, most importantly, which parts of the ATD do they effectively use? Is the full import of the theory recognised and drawn upon? Are there any misunderstandings about what the ATD can achieve and what it is allegedly not yet prepared to accomplish? And what then should we do about them? A companion question is the compatibility of this enlargement with different ways to understand the object of study of didactics. The need arises to continue with the systematic work of interaction and dialogue between different didactic theories, in order to explain the respective principles; the way these principles affect the aims of mathematical education each theory advocates; and the type of research problems that are privileged.

This topic concerns the study of the historical transition from the classical paradigm (based on the sequential access to previously established knowledge) to an emerging didactic paradigm in which one ideally starts from a question and tries to work out an answer to that question, without any prejudice regarding the kinds of tools needed to elaborate the answer sought after. In this paradigm of questioning the world, in which the notion of inquiry (of a given question) and of study and research paths (SRP) play a key role, the works of culture do not vanish: they are simply assigned a more authentically functional role, which requires studying a given work—in synergy with other works—with the aim of providing an appropriate answer to a question or set of questions, which correlatively become part and parcel of a “new” curriculum based on the study of questions. Presentations relating to the modelling and critical study, from an ATD viewpoint, of the notion of inquiry-based teaching will be welcomed. Papers tackling the issues raised by the design of purportedly “inquiry-based curricula” will be particularly encouraged.

Newcomers to the ATD as a praxeological complex should be reminded that many of its key constituents were forged in the frame of teacher education in an effort to change the “craft of teaching” into a full-fledged profession. The core of this topic is the study of the teaching “semiprofessions” in school, university or vocational school. It is based on two main concepts, firstly that of profession (as distinguished from the notion of “semiprofession”), and secondly, the concept of problems of a profession, which refers to the difficulties one has to deal with when carrying out this profession. The main idea here is that, however “subjective” it may seem to others, any observed “difficulty” must be taken seriously and looked at as a problem to be solved in the framework of the ATD. Papers showing how this can be done will be welcomed, whether they tackle “big issues” or are devoted to the supposed minutiae of teaching practice.