We cannot talk about the role of philosophy of education in teachers' training programs without examining the relationship between philosophy and educational theories. Even when theoreticians like Kieran Egan, for example, claim that education is a normative discourse that cannot be inferred from "local" empirical psychological research, the role of philosophy seems of utmost importance because philosophy has essentially to do with norms and values. Another way of looking at the "sciences" of education that renews our comprehension of their relationship (...) is by analysing a new cognitive psychological approach named "metacognition" which rests on one's ability to understand one's own cognitive strategies and mechanisms of regulation. The well-known psychologist Adrien Pinard in Quebec has been working on those concepts lately, inspired by Flavell's model of cognitive regulation. This approach is remarkably similar both to Wilson's definition of procedural criteria which he claims educational theory is all about and to the very specific method of philosophy, that of analytical and reflective thought. Philosophy or reflective thought cannot be separated from practice in teacher training since education is not only a matter of pedagogical means but also of attitudes to and relationship with another person. Thus, besides theory and practice, a third parameter should be taken into account in the elaboration of a teacher training program: the meta-practice and theory parameter, or the reflection on one's own practice, which is essentially philosophical. (shrink)

L'étude des rapports sociaux entre les hommes permet de dégager un invariant structurel des sociétés avec accumulation : le fait de la domination économico-socio-politique d'un petit nombre parmi les hommes sur le plus grand nombre. Qu'il s'agisse du couple maître-esclave dans la société grecque, seigneur-serf dans la société féodale ou dominant-dominé dans la société capitaliste, le rapport reste le même : quelques-uns seulement parmi les hommes ont pouvoir sur la masse. La société postindustrielle n'échappe pas à la règle. Elle réitère (...) le même modèle de rapports sociaux sous la forme de la domination d'une élite d'intellectuels sur une masse anonyme.The fact of an economic, social and political domination of a minority over the majority is an invariant of all societies of accumulation in the history of mankind. Wether it be the master and slave couple in the Greek City, the Lord and Serf duality in the Feudal society or the "dominant-dominé" division of the capitalist society, the relationship is built on the same pattern: only a few men have power over the mass. The postindustrial or "programmed" society duplicates the same pattern of the domination of an Elite of Intellectuals over an anonymous mass. (shrink)

Avec le mouvement de professionnalisation de l'enseignement, la compétence éthique est devenue une caractéristique désirée du professionnalisme dans l'enseignement.