Teacher Training Service

Based on the principle that it is difficult to teach well when you do not know how a student learns, the members of the Teacher Training Service investigate, through teaching and research activities, the following questions: How does does the student learn? What are the (neuro)cognitive mechanisms involved in school learning in the broad sense? More specifically, how do students approach geometric and spatial learning? How to achieve effective differentiation between teaching and learning? How to (re)think teacher training taking into account discoveries made in psychology, neuroscience and didactics, while ensuring that teacher well-being is promoted ?

Directed by Natacha Duroisin, this teaching and research service is involved in several national and international projects (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, FNRS, Council for Research in Human Sciences of the Government of Canada, etc.).

Research activities are structured around three axes:

• Learning, Cognition & Spaces (research in mathematics education and geography);
• School learning & Psychology (including work on differentiation and neuroeducation)
• Pedagogical Practices and Teachers' Feelings (including research on practices in times of pandemic and teacher well-being).

Some research is carried out in partnership with researchers from other universities and colleges (Univ. of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, Univ. of Lille, McGill University, Univ. of Geneva, HEPHCondorcet, HEH, etc.).

In addition to the research activities carried out, several lessons are given to future psychologists, future pedagogues or future teachers of upper secondary or higher education.

Courses offered at the bachelor's and master's level

• Psychology of school learning

This course is based on a didactic and multidimensional approach to school learning and takes stock of current psychological knowledge in reading, writing, calculation, counting, problem solving... By presenting research, this course addresses in particular the issues of transfer, motivation and work methodologies used by children and adolescents to learn.

• Neuroeducation

This course was born from the meeting between cognitive psychology, neurosciences and education sciences. In addition to describing and taking a critical and documented look at the main neurocognitive mechanisms involved in school learning, this course leads students to identify and distinguish neuromyths in order to highlight the erroneous elements they contain. The contents offered in this course make it possible to best adapt the methods used according to the natural activity of the cerebral functions of the learners.

• Didactics of early learning disciplines

Based on a specific theme linked to an early learning discipline (sciences, geography, arts, etc.), this course aims in particular to develop theoretical mastery of didactic concepts in a multidisciplinary approach, to define the link that must be made between the didactics of early learning disciplines and, on the one hand, assessment in the broad sense of the term and, on the other hand, the teaching and training curriculum.

Courses given at AESS (aggregation) and at CAPAES

• Approach to the adolescent in an educational context
• School life and group management
• Preparatory course for school life
• Approach to young adults and adults in an educational context
• Psychology of learning for teaching

The members of the Teacher Training department are regularly called upon by external organizations to offer training or conferences related to the aforementioned areas of expertise.