Accessing the practical epistemologies of teacher and students to understand the shaping of the enacted curriculum

Abstract

The aim of this study is to document the practical epistemologies of the teacher and students in the case of a cycle of acrobatics in the final year of high school, to better understand the shaping of the enacted curriculum. Classroom observation data are cross-referenced with semi-structured teacher and students interview data to infer elements of practical epistemology. The results show that teachers and students have different conceptions of the knowledge to be taught/learned and the knowledge for teaching/learning. The focus on two groups of students reveals a variety of students’ practical epistemologies, sometimes different from the teacher’s practical epistemology.