The contemporary use of the term ‘complexity’ frequently indicates that it is considered a unified concept. This may lead to a neglect of the range of different theories that deal with the implications related to the notion of complexity. This paper, integrating both the English and the Latin traditions of research associated with this notion, suggests a more nuanced use of the term, thereby avoiding simplification of the concept to some of its dominant expressions only. The paper further explores the (...) etymology of ‘complexity’ and offers a chronological presentation of three generations of theories that have shaped its uses; the epistemic and socio‐cultural roots of these theories are also introduced. From an epistemological point of view, this reflection sheds light on the competing interpretations underlying the definition of what is considered as complex. Also, from an anthropological perspective it considers both the emancipatory as well as the alienating dimensions of complexity. Based on the highlighted ambiguities, the paper suggests in conclusion that contributions grounded in contemporary theories related to complexity, as well as critical appraisals of their epistemological and ethical legitimacy, need to follow the recursive feedback loops and dynamics that they constitute. In doing so, researchers and practitioners in education should consider their own practice as a learning process that does not require the reduction of the antagonisms and the complementarities that shape its own complexity. (shrink)

Notre analyse pose le problème du rapport entre éducation et développement, et plus précisément, nous nous demandons dans quelle mesure l’éducation peut conduire au développement humain. Il s’agit là d’une question à propos de laquelle les pédagogies traditionnelle et nouvelle sont opposées. Notre objectif, dans ce travail, a consisté à montrer que l’éducation ne peut conduire au développement humain que si elle parvient à prendre en charge les deux dimensions fondamentales de l’homme que sont son individualité et sa personnalité. Pour (...) nous, une éducation capable d’assurer le développement humain serait tout autant celle qui considérerait l’homme dans sa totalité et l’engagerait sur un chemin ininterrompu d’apprentissage. (shrink)

Morin's thoughts on environmental destruction flow from the perspective of a metatheorist of political ecology. His early writings emphasize the interaction of nature and culture; his "acentric" interpretations of systems theory challenge ecological theorists who overemphasize centralized programming as a remedy for destructive patterns of subsystem interaction. Morin also criticizes defenders of "sustainable development" who fail to see system-renewing potential in cultural diversity. As an environmental metatheorist, he offers not rules for a new green ethic, but a way of thinking (...) designed to enhance respect for pluralism, ambiguity, and natural complexity. (shrink)

This article leans on researchs which we led as coordinator and speaker of the course “intervention in Educational Midler” within the framework of a master’s degree “Education Teaching, Education Training”set up by the ESPE. The analysis of pratices by becoming a dynamic space, allowed to spot and to illustrate the simultaneity of three times occurring in the process of professionalization of the students. The object of this contribution is to operate a putting in the day for the links between this (...) simultaneity of the times and the method and posture adapted by the trainer. The results of this research exposed two axes of questioning in which we wish to continue will be discussed: which epistemology may be used by the trainer to create an open space several timesframes? What is an epistemology of training relationship? (shrink)