The decline of critical thinking in school sociology in Quebec? Hypotheses and analytical approaches
This essay aims to understand the relative decline of social critique within the sociology of education in Quebec. Drawing upon three meanings of the notion of critique (epistemological, rational, social), we propose three hypotheses. The first hypothesis underlines the increasingly complex and fragmented nature of the normative background of the analysis of educational policies and practices. Critique no longer draws only upon the ideal of social democratization (reduction of social inequalities), but, sometimes in contradictory or ambiguous ways, upon a plurality of normative frames, such as the promotion of the individual, the recognition of cultural differences, gender equality, but also efficiency ; hence social critique finds itself transformed, but also more fragile. The second hypothesis shows how the epistemological and rational basis of critique is weakened by the evolution of the institutional context of the production of knowledge (enrolment of sociologists within professional schools of education ; growing link between research and social demand). Finally, there is a growing gap between the profane and the academic critiques of school.