Temporality in educational action

Temporality is a plurivocal notion that is both abstract and concrete. Linked to Heidegger’s Dasein (1986), it refers to the existence and meaning of being in the world. The Da-sein, literally “being there”, designates this particular and paradoxical individual, carrying the concern of his or her “being” and the meaning of existence in the consciousness that he or she has of his or her finitude. In other words, temporality in Heidegger’s work refers to the way in which “the human being is temporal”. It is not limited to a submission to time, but is part of a project. The latter takes meaning from lived experience – the past – and the opening towards other possibilities – the future. To become a subject, to be oneself, then suggests being projected towards a future, a possible one. Doesn’t this posture commit us to having to choose and to answer for our choices in the present by anchoring ourselves in our past experiences?

The Dasein, however, is not purely individual; it is intimately articulated to the fact of being in the world and to intersubjectivity. In this sense, the subject’s future also depends on social and public conceptions of time. Indeed, cultural definitions of time structure social life inside and outside institutions, although its perception is subjective and dependent on lived experience. Thus, far from being merely a constraint imposed from outside, temporality in education refers to a plurality of conceptions and representations of time. Although educational action, because it aims at change, development, social integration and subject autonomy, de facto includes a temporal dimension, the issues linked to this plurality of “educational temporalities” (Alhadeff-Jones, 2018) remain little explored.

Following the example of emergencies involving prompt and punctual intervention, the concordance, congruence and compatibility of social, institutional and individual times (Bouquet & Riffault, 2013) are constantly being questioned. This highlights the temporal challenges of educational accompaniment.

Temporality, whether social or educational, will therefore be at the heart of the AIEJI 2022 congress as an object of reflection. To deal with temporality, the relations between the three main actors of socio-educational action will be questioned: the beneficiaries or users of social benefits, the social workers, the institutions to which the social workers are attached. This emphasis on the relations and interactions between these three actors will nevertheless take into account the social and cultural context and, in particular, social policies, the organisation of social benefits and their financing, and training logics.

The question that will be the main theme of this congress will be the following:

Around which issues is the temporality of the meeting between these three actors articulated?

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