The CNRS multidisciplinary thematic network on research into education issues
The CNRS multidisciplinary thematic network on research on education issues, set up in 2020 by the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (INSHS) and the Institute of Biological Sciences (INSB) of CNRS, aims to federate and map existing research in education at the CNRS, scattered across numerous colleges and institutions, and to promote meetings and discussions in an interdisciplinary approach. More generally, it aims to facilitate research that is in direct contact with all the actors of the French education system in order to promote genuine “translational” research directly linked to education.
This network covers a broad thematic spectrum, including all human and social sciences, developmental and educational psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. However, it is restricted to research teams and teacher-researchers, or researchers working in CNRS institutions. It also welcomes CNRS teams from outside INSHS and INSB, notably from information sciences and engineering and systems sciences. To date, 2 federations of laboratories (the Laboratoire de l’Éducation, or Laboratory of Education and the Institut Français de l’Éducation, or French Institute of Education, both located in Lyons), 1 national professional association (the Assembly of Directors of Research Institutes on the Teaching of Mathematics – ADIREM) and 62 CNRS research Units are officially affiliated to the network. All in all, our 400+-strong mailing list includes teachers-researchers, researchers, PhD students and engineers.
The co-directors of the network since its creation in 2020 are Grégoire Borst, professor of developmental psychology and educational cognitive neuroscience at the University of Paris and director of the Laboratory of Psychology of Child Development and Education (LaPsyDé, Paris), and Nicolas Vibert, director of research at the CNRS and director of the Research Center on Cognition and Learning (CeRCA, Poitiers and Tours).
Moreover, the CNRS multidisciplinary thematic network on research on educational issues is organized into four Units, each bringing together researchers from several different disciplines:
- Unit 1: “Educational Inequalities”. Coordinators: Alessandro Bergamaschi and Florence Bara
- Unit 2: “Comparative educational policies (organisation and professions, tools, and evaluation)”. Coordinators: Hélène Buisson-Fenet and Xavier Pons
- Unit 3: “Pedagogical practices and tools: design, analysis and evaluation”. Directors: Marie-Line Gardes and Olivier Vors
- Unit 4: “Theorising the links with school practices”. Directors: Vincent Liquète and Aline FREY
Lastly, the governance of the network is ensured by two councils in conjunction with its leaders: a Strategic Orientation Council (COS) and a Scientific Steering Committee. The COS works as an interface with the INSHS and INSB management.
Composition of the Strategic Orientation Council :
- Deputy scientific directors of the INSHS and the INSB in charge of network follow-up
- Heads of the network
- Heads of each Unit of the network
Composition of the Scientific Steering Committee :
- Heads of the network
- Heads of each Unit of the network
- A representative of each research Unit affiliated to the network (normally the network correspondent in the Unit)
