Mario Laforest

Bio: Mario Laforest is an academic researcher from Université de Sherbrooke. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 10 publications receiving 90 citations.

Past and Current Trends in the Analysis of Textbooks in a Quebec Context

Abstract: This article draws from two research programs on the use of textbooks for a variety of school subjects by elementary-school teachers in Quebec. Highlighting the main analytical orientations pertaining to textbooks both in Quebec and elsewhere, it first distinguishes between textbooks and schoolbooks, and then presents the importance and the role that textbooks, in Quebec elementary teaching, have had over the past 40 years. Lastly, the article portrays the state of research on textbooks, unveiling the need for a comprehensive, situated approach in research on textbooks, as well as work focused on how teachers use them and on the impact of this use on both practice and learning.

Les représentations de la pratique interdisciplinaire chez les enseignants québécois du primaire

Abstract: L’article fait etat, en s’appuyant sur les resultats de travaux de recherche menes au cours des dix dernieres annees, d’une typologie des representations des pratiques interdisciplinaires chez les enseignants du Quebec oeuvrant au primaire. Quatre tendances principales constituent les poles de deux continuums qui se croisent. Elles caracterisent des representations de pratiques de l’interdisciplinarite scolaire qui ne sont pas ou qui ne sont souvent que de loin en accord avec une conception de l’interdisciplinarite qui assurerait une dependance reciproque, sans predominance et sans ignorance aucune, entre des disciplines scolaires et qui favoriseraient l’etablissement de complementarites et d’interrelations effectives.

Rapports au savoir et programme québécois de sciences humaines au primaire

Abstract: Le programme d’etudes quebecois de sciences humaines au primaire actuellement en vigueur est considere sous l’angle du choix des rapports aux savoirs qu’il entend pri- vilegier en mettant de l’avant une demarche d’apprentissage pretendue “naturelle” Les assertions qui emaillent le discours reposent sur un rapport au savoir reifie qui renvoie a des perspectives epistemologiques realistes des plus traditionnelles Un tel choix assure une coherence epistemologique avec le modele d’intervention educative que sous-tend le programme et que Not relie aux methodes d’heterostructuration cognitive de type coactif Il assure egalement, par l’union a premiere vue contradictoire de ce modele d’intervention et de l’approche “naturelle” qui cree l’illusion d’une participation active et responsable de la part du sujet a un processus de devoilement, une vision rassurante de l’ideologie educationnelle qui sous-tend la conception du programme The Quebec primary school social studies curriculum favours certain kinds of knowledge it claims are “natural” for young learners Its traditionalist and realist epistemology is consistent with self-contradictory models of educational intervention and (as Not says) of cognition This curriculum overcomes the visible contradiction between intervention and “natural” (that is, participatory and autonomous) learning, under the guise of a reassuring ideology

Attitudes Sociales et Intellectuelles et Valeurs à Développer dans L'Enseignement Québécois des Sciences Humaines au Primaire: Une Analyse des Propositions du Programme D'Etudes

Abstract: Le programme quebecois de sciences humaines au primaire participe a un courant actuellement important en Amerique du Nord: il promeut le developpement d'attitudes sociales politically correct et d'attitudes intellectuelles scientifically correct, ce que Orlandi (1971) a appele des «attitudes socialement acceptables.» Les auteurs, apres avoir identifie ces attitudes, feront ressortir que, sous le couvert d'une approche developpementale dans le domaine du savoir-etre, le programme supporte plutot une approche technocomportementale qui conduit a une adhesion a des valeurs et a des attitudes conformistes et aerifiques.

Interdisciplinarity: History, Theory, and Practice

Abstract: Medicine has evolved from the undertaking of the individual practitioner to a state in which many disciplines become involved in administering both diagnostic and treatment services. It has become a standard of care in hospital and clinic-based practice to utilize a multidisciplinary approach to medical care. Multidisciplinary modes of practice, however, do not ensure that participants interact cooperatively, or with the exclusive purpose of patient benefit. The usual mode of interaction within medical academic and clinical environments promotes individualism, protectionism, and some degree of isolation, not infrequently to the detriment of patient care. The stated purpose of this book is to provide a synthesis of theories and methodologies that promote a growing permeability of boundaries and that allow for intellectual accommodation. Health care professionals have been turning to interdisciplinary intervention approaches for several reasons, but the most compelling in medicine is the need to solve problems that are beyond the

From Intended Curriculum to Written Curriculum: Examining the "Voice" of a Mathematics Textbook

Abstract: In this article, I used a discourse analytic framework to examine the "voice" of a middle school mathematics unit. I attended to the text's voice, which helped to illuminate the construction of the roles of the authors and readers and the expected relationships between them. The discursive framework I used focused my attention on particular language forms. The aim of the analysis was to see whether the authors of the unit achieved the ideological goal (i.e., the intended curriculum) put forth by the NCTM's Standards (1991) to shift the locus of authority away from the teacher and the textbook and toward student mathematical reasoning and justification. The findings indicate that achieving this goal is more difficult than the authors of the Standards documents may have realized and that there may be a mismatch between this goal and conventional textbook forms.

Past and Current Trends in the Analysis of Textbooks in a Quebec Context

Abstract: This article draws from two research programs on the use of textbooks for a variety of school subjects by elementary-school teachers in Quebec. Highlighting the main analytical orientations pertaining to textbooks both in Quebec and elsewhere, it first distinguishes between textbooks and schoolbooks, and then presents the importance and the role that textbooks, in Quebec elementary teaching, have had over the past 40 years. Lastly, the article portrays the state of research on textbooks, unveiling the need for a comprehensive, situated approach in research on textbooks, as well as work focused on how teachers use them and on the impact of this use on both practice and learning.

Effective Use of Textbooks: A Neglected Aspect of Education in Pakistan

Abstract: Given the significant role that textbooks play in many countries of the developing world, the paper highlights issues related to the use of the textbook in rural Pakistan, and identifies ways to improve upon current practices. The findings presented in this paper emerge from our analysis of teachers’ experiences and practices related to the use of Science textbooks in public schools. Since the existing knowledge base is limited on teachers’ actual use of the textbook, the paper attempts to fill in this gap by highlighting the various issues related to teachers’ perceptions and practices. These include teachers’ limited use of textbooks, access to textbooks, information gaps and limitations of textbooks – all working to restrict the use of the textbook as a learning resource. The paper concludes by offering recommendations on improving textbook usage in Pakistan.

Conformity to Quality Characteristics of Textbooks: The Illusion of Textbook Evaluation in Pakistan

Abstract: Textbooks play an important role in teaching learning process especially in developing countries such as Pakistan. Textbooks are very useful and accessible resources that students and teachers can utilize according to their needs. Thus, the selection of an appropriate textbook is a process that needs careful attention. The study reported in this paper discusses the characteristics of a quality textbook and investigates the presence or absence of these characteristics in the textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education, Pakistan in the light of enacted written (intended) curricula. The data were collected from 51 experts in the field of curriculum material, its development and evaluation with a representation from all geographical areas of Pakistan. The data gathering instrument was a structured Textbook Evaluation Form based on eight characteristics of quality textbook. The analysis of the data indicates that the approved textbooks are lacking in many of the desirable characteristics. The study also discloses that experts with practical experience in curriculum material development and evaluation have deeper understanding of textbook evaluation as compared to those who have theoretical knowledge of the subject and/or only teach it.