ADEF - ERGAPE Team - A Priority Education professions observatory

Most of the proposed research will be aligned with this observatory and thus adhere to ergonomic methods of intervention. The aim of this is both epistemic and transformative and is part of establishing an 'operating framework'. Firstly, knowledge must be produced on the real work of education professionals operating in various workplaces, at the request and with the assistance of professionals who are striving to provide, maintain or rebuild meaning in the work they carry out to meet these new requirements.
The observatory is considered a 'living laboratory' for the study of professional activities undergoing a process of construction. From our cultural-historical perspective, we aim to identify, in this construction, the historical traces making up the activities studied as the emerging traits of its current (re)structuring. Here the scientific challenge - and the difficulty - lies in successfully identifying, from these potentially structuring events, contingencies related to the diversity of situations. The full interest of an analysis of this kind of activity which, for years, has been conducted by indirect methods, comes through in its ability to take into account the contradictions, tradeoffs and dilemmas that professionals face. These can be renewed and become institutionalised in the design and organisation of these new work situations. This observatory will be a place where difficulties encountered can be diagnosed and contradictions overcome (or not) by the teaching staff and executive committees of the Ambition Success Networks.
An evaluation will then be carried out of the impact of this research and involvement in terms of transforming work situations and the professional development of those involved. Cooperation between practitioners and researchers and constant consultation with professionals will be essential to this process. This way of testing the methods used to evaluate research and its social efficiency is almost unique. We are aware of some minor influence of scientific knowledge on educational policies and the pedagogical practices of teachers and those working in education at a senior level. This is very limited, however, because these individuals have not necessarily identified with the results of research thus far. The approach proposed here is an alternative to this recurring criticism. Firstly, because these results come in response to a request from interested parties who are an integral part of the research. Secondly, because their ownership is reflected on a practical level through transformations of educational tools or projects which are collectively validated, including by those further up the hierarchy. Here, we are at the crux of the downward prescription/upward prescription dichotomy and the renormalisation activities developed by work collectives. It would appear that this 'local proximity' reduces the gap between social demand and its scientific handling, as well as the time difference between the 'results' and their 'application'. This will require further analysis. More...