Game of substitutions or instrument for learning : the ‘master of paper’ in sciences at school
In France, the production of science textbooks for the elementary school has never been more important, while the underlying epistemology of the programs does not a priori favour this tool. By examining the concepts of instrument and mediation, we will present the textbook as a ‘master of print/paper’ and its use as being able to generate a double conflict of mediation, one affecting learning, the other one the relations existing between this ‘master of print/paper’ and the teacher. We will examine how these textbooks negotiate the potential internal conflict of mediation, and the relationships the teachers, in their essence, have with this ‘master of print/paper’.