This international conference is organised under the auspices of the IUFM (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres; teacher professional development institute) Midi-Pyrénées, an affiliated school of the University Toulouse 2, and is supported in particular by [1]:
– The Mixed Unit of Research EFTS (education, professional development, work, knowledge);
– The Research commission of IUFM and especially CCLEPODI (curricula, skills, language, assessment, versatility, didactics of the disciplines, interdisciplinarity);
– The Scientific Board of Toulouse II-Le Mirail university;
– The Department MEFST IUFM (professions in education and training in science and technology);
– The ARDM (Association for Research in Didactics of Mathematics).
– The Région Midi-Pyrénées
The scientific focus of the conference
Today, the Anthropological Theory of the Didactical (ATD) holds a strong position on research on the didactics of mathematics as well as the didactics of other disciplines.
Since 2005, three international conferences have been held on this subject. The first was held in Baeza (Spain) in 2005, the second took place in Uzès (France) in 2007, and the third in Sant Hilari Sacalm (Spain) in 2010. The 3rd conference was organised by the Mathematics Research Center of Catalonia, which also published the proceedings.
Like the preceding conferences, this conference brings together researchers who work or wish to work [2] within the frame of ATD with the following objectives:
- Establishing an overview of the results and the progress of ATD concerning both basic research and the development of education and teachers’ training systems ;
- Developing a research programme around the most pertinent open problems, whether related to problems affecting education systems or the development of didactics as a scientific discipline ;
- Identifying and studying the specific problems raised by the extension of ATD conceptual and methodological tools to other fields.
The 4th conference should be of significant importance for symbolic as well as scientific reasons. On the one hand, the awarding of the Hans Freudenthal Medal to Yves Chevallard (awarded at the ICME conference in july 2012 in Seoul) exemplarily marks the prominent role of this research program in the world panorama of didactics of mathematics [3]. On the other hand, it should in particular promote research on the conditions and constraints that affect the current historic crisis which influences school and university mathematics as well as other disciplines in many countries. This crisis is associated with an apparently systematic undervaluation of the contributions of research in the field of didactics, which therefore remains largely unknown.
[1] IUFM : institut universitaire de formation des maîtres ; UMR : unité mixte de recherche ; CCLEPODI : Curricula, compétences, langage, évaluation, polyvalence, didactiques des disciplines, interdisciplinarité ; MEFST : Métiers de l’enseignement et de la formation en sciences et technologies.
[2] For some training in ATD and to get some information on its recent trends, see Yves Chevallard’s web site (http://yves.chevallard.online.fr/). An introductory bibliography will soon be available on the web site of this 4th conference.
[3] The Hans Freudenthal is, along with the Felix Klein medal, the highest distinction awarded by the ICMI (International Commission on Mathematical Instruction), a specific commission of IMU (International Mathematical Union). See http://www.cnrs.fr/insmi/spip.php?article270.
