Wednesday 22 July 14:05
- 15:35
Hall: 09 - Palazzina 1
Chair:
Mababu Mukiur Richard
Co-Chair:
Tau Ramiro
Discussant:
Trombetta Carlo
Division: Division 18: History of Applied Psychology
To refer to the movement of ideas gathered around the Rousseau Institute, founded by Édouard Claparède in 1912 and extending until Jean Piaget's death in 1980, the term "School of Geneva" is commonly used. Its leading figures, like Claparède, Bovet, and Piaget, are widely recognized in the history of psychology and education sciences and were deeply embedded in international networks. Characteristics such as open-mindedness, interdisciplinarity, critical thinking, simplicity and the articulation of practice with theory are often cited to justify the unity of this tradition. However, recent research focused on Claparède, the Rousseau Institute, the International Bureau of Education (IBE), Piaget and the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology has revealed distinctive features specific to each. Whether one considers the political culture that marked the early years of the Rousseau Institute, the shifting intellectual orientations up to its transformation into the Institute of Educational Sciences in 1948, the principle of neutrality underpinning the development of the IBE, the research culture and the emergence of the "Piaget industry", or the work of the Centre for Genetic Epistemology, the history of the Institute proves to be highly dynamic. This is why we propose to revisit the ideas about the School of Geneva through various historiographical lenses (political, intellectual, institutional, relational history), which shift the unifying factors to the point of allowing the hypothesis of two Genevan schools to emerge: one Claparèdean, the other Piagetian.
