Les manuels scolaires comme instruments d’autoformation en culture religieuse chez les enseignants du secondaire
Implementing the program of ethics and religious culture (ECR) in September 2008 in Quebec has generated important needs of training among teachers, and particularly concerning the religious culture element. Regional training plans developed at the time of the implementation of the program will be insufficient to meet the different needs. Continuing training activities are pursued in some regions at the request of academic advisors but still not widespread. Given the limited training offered by the school boards towards the religious culture, teachers have to initiate more individual self-study approaches to meet their needs. Some textbooks are accessible and efficient. To what extent textbooks can contribute to meeting teachers training needs in secondary schools concerning the religious culture of ECR? This essay intends to explore on what and how textbooks are self-training tools for teachers with respect to the aspect of religious culture in the ECR program in secondary school, and this, according to three main orientations: teachers relationship with the knowledge of religious culture discipline, images they have about textbooks as professional development tools and the experience they have acquired in continuous training. Finally, we are exploring some contributions and barriers related to the use of textbooks to meet potential training needs among surveyed teachers. The data to be fed will be collected among four teachers via an electronic survey and personal interviews during which manuals will be reviewed according to the needs identified by the teachers. Our results show that textbooks, intended for students, are very often used by teachers interviewed in their preparatory stage, mainly in terms of programs and training content for the upper secondary level.
Textbook Ethics and religious culture Teachers Disciplinary knowledge Professional development