Épistémologie des savoirs scolaires et sens culturel des activités physiques et sportives

Abstract

Epistemology of School Knowledge Contents and Cultural Meaning of Sports and Physical Exercise in School This paper focuses on showing how pertinent it is to conceive of the theoretical framework to give an account of the epistemology of the knowledge content involved in the sports, arts and physical activities ( Activités physiques sportives et artistiques or APSA) taught during sports sessions ( Education physique et sportive or EPS). The issue is that of a cultural transmission of APSA, which would take into account the epistemological perspectives of didactic research. The point is to describe the way the knowledge content of an APSA group, racket sports, is organised, and to consider the mechanisms leading to this organisation and to its evolution. Our results show that a framework built upon two modes of reflection about school knowledge contents, an historical and a sociological mode, are both pertinent and valid. The discussion concerns the role the way knowledge contents are organised plays in the formation of the group consisting in racket sports, and the cultural significance of theses activities.