Rationale

The contributions to this Round Table come from members of the Joint Action in Didactics in Europe (JADE) project that has cross-curricular foci on mathematics, physical education and first language teaching in school. The project was formed following extensive discussion of Joint Action Theory in Didactics (JATD) (Ligozat, 2011; Sensevy, 2011). A number of impulses to the evolution of the joint work of the project arose through collaboration at subsequent ECER conferences (Gruson and Loquet, 2012; Gruson and Loquet, 2013; Loquet et al., 2015) punctuated by several other meetings during a period of approximately five years. Associated outputs initially have focused on mathematics, including the paper by Hudson (2015).

We argue that inequality is a core challenge that needs to be at the foreground of our thinking about didactics – learning and teaching not only at the global level (UNICEF/UNESCO, 2013; United Nations, 2015) but also at the national level for all contemporary societies and for educational systems. The work of Stojanov (2011) is of particular relevance that gives an account of the ways in which many students have experiences of defiance, contempt and humiliation and even degradation that hinder the development of their self-identity and autonomy. We are particularly interested in better understanding the conditions in which everyday teaching practices and classroom interaction produce equitable access to high quality education, i.e. equal preconditions and chances of autonomous participation and success. With regard to such issues of inclusion and equitable access, we argue that it is necessary to consider the epistemic quality (Hudson et al., 2015, Loquet, 2016) of what students come to know, understand and be able to do. Thus high epistemic quality associated with appropriate interactions teacher-students is seen to be a pre-condition for the achievement of equitable access to high quality learning and education.

Research Questions

Accordingly our general research questions are as follows:

1. What are the barriers that block equitable access to high quality learning and education?
2. How can these barriers be overcome?
3. What are the necessary conditions for the promotion of equitable access to high quality learning and education?

The emphasis we place on quality education brings a focus on the didactic system and within this frame we focus on the:

• epistemic quality of content
• quality of teacher-student(s) interaction
• quality of instruction as a creative process
• democratic quality of schooling and instruction

Methodological Approach

Research will be conducted in the three countries in relation to three specific subjects (PE, mathematics, first language). The aim is to analyse different examples of epistemic quality in classroom activities and to compare findings within a shared theoretical framework that takes account of our respective research traditions in didactics. In doing so our research approach will enable us to define, describe and evaluate the conditions for and the barriers against the promotion of equitable access to high quality learning and education. Data collection, analysis and interpretation will be based on a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2000).

This process was initiated in November 2015 when the research team as a whole observed a PE lesson with a class in a college in Rennes (students aged 14 and 15), the content of which focuses on the practice of dance and the aims of citizenship education. In March 2017 the research team will observe a German language lesson at a secondary school in Frankfurt/Main.

Intended purpose of the discussion

We will outline our perspectives and share a video extract from the German language lesson in Frankfurt/Main to exemplify our theoretical and methodological approaches and to discuss our further insights and ideas emerging from the data analysis.

Charmaz, K. (2000). Grounded Theory: Objectivist and Constructivist Methods. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd edition (pp.509-535). Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage. Gruson, B., & Loquet, M. (2012). Symposium on Joint Action Theory in Didactics: contributions to comparative didactics in Europe. European Conference on Educational, Champion Freedom, Education and Development, University of Cádiz, Spain, 18-21 September. Gruson, B. and Loquet, M. (2013) Symposium on Teaching-Learning as Joint Action: Developing a common theoretical background for Didactics in Europe, European Conference of Educational Research, University of Bahçeşehir, Istanbul, 10-13 September. Hudson, B. (2015) Butterflies and Moths in the Amazon: Developing Mathematical Thinking through the Rainforest/ Les Papillons en Amazonie: le développement de la pensée mathématique au travers de la forêt pluviale, Education and Didactique, Vol. 9, Issue 2, 119 – 133. http://educationdidactique.revues.org/2322 Hudson, B., Henderson, S. and Hudson, A., (2015) Developing Mathematical Thinking in the Primary Classroom: Liberating Teachers and Students as Learners of Mathematics, Journal of Curriculum Studies, Vol. 47, Issue 3, 374-398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2014.979233 Ligozat, F. (2011) ‘The Development of the Joint Action Theory in the Context of the French Disciplinary "Didactiques"’, Symposium on Fachdidaktik – European Perspectives, European Conference on Educational Research, Freie Universität Berlin, 13-16 September 2011. http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:75023 Loquet, M., Wegner, A., & Meyer, M. A. (2015). Symposium on Didactics in Europe beyond Fragmentation? Analyses of Teaching-Learning Practices through Case Studies. European Conference of Educational Research, University of Budapest, Hungary, 8-11 September. Loquet, M. (2016). The Epistemic Kinship: a way to Bridge the affirmed Gap between Beyond Fragmentation. Student's and Expert's Knowledge, the case of Dance Lessons. In Symposium Global Perspectives on Didactics, Learning and Teaching, Annual Focal Meeting of the World Education Research Association (WERA), Washington, USA (8-12 April). Sensevy, G. (2011). ‘Overcoming fragmentation: Towards a joint action theory in didactics’, in Hudson, B. & Meyer, M. A. (Eds) Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning, and Teaching. Opladen and Farmington Hills: Verlag Barbara Budrich. pp.60–76. Stojanov (2011) Bildungsgerechtigkeit: Rekonstruktionen eines umkämpften Begriffs, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, UNICEF/UNESCO (2013) Envisioning Education in the post-2015 Development Agenda: Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. https://www.unicef.org/education/files/Post-2015_EN_web.pdf United Nations (2015) Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300