Participatory democracy experience embedded in a university training space in France

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5902/1984644494400

Keywords:

Experience, Participatory democracy, Training, Student citizens’ convention

Abstract

This contribution aims to explore the hypothesis that the creation of pedagogical spaces such as intermediary workshops arising from the Student Citizens’ Convention (CCE) at a university in eastern Paris can foster, despite certain limitations, a form of education for participatory democracy in higher education. Examining students’ participatory and deliberative experience makes it possible to question the nature of their engagement, its resonance with their citizenship, and to assess whether this experience is formative insofar as it constitutes a source for acquiring and developing knowledge, skills, and behavioral competencies relating to a democratic form of citizenship. Through discussions and the administration of a questionnaire on the outcomes of their participation in a CCE, students (n = 43) interrogate an instituting praxis (Royer, 2019) of pedagogical spaces at the university, which constitutes an “experience” (Schwartz, 2004) and its continuity (Dewey, 1968 [2018]), with the aim of translating pedagogical action (Boutet, 2016) into a source of learning, development (Kolb, 1984), and emancipation from the embeddedness of pedagogical practices within social, historical, and political configurations. The findings, stemming from their participation, deliberation, and negotiation, show that students contribute to the establishment of new projects, whose implementation nevertheless collides with the centralization and concentration of power within the university. Finally, even though not all students perceive that cultivating a sense of belonging serves as a driving force for initiatives in favor of participatory democracy within and across universities, at a larger scale this dynamic could influence future higher education public policies.

Author Biographies

Fatima Anani, Universidade Paris-Est-Créteil-Val-de-Marne

Professeur chercheur doctorante UPEC LIRTES 

¨Pascal Lafont, Universidade Paris-Est-Créteil-Val-de-Marne

Professeur - chercheur UPEC - LIRTES 6 Ses travaux s’inscrivent dans le champ de la formation des adultes et des acquis expérientiels dont la visée est celle de la mise en perspective nationale, européenne ou internationale et ont pour objet(s) de recherche : L’éducation et la formation tout au long de la vie à travers ; l’analyse des apprentissages expérientiels et la reconnaissance tant individuelle que collective ; la place de l’expérience en formation (construction de la professionnalité et expérience vécue par les acteurs) ; l’évaluation des effets des dispositifs de formation qui s’intéressent à l’activité et l’expérience ; reconnaissance et validation des acquis de l’expérience migratoire ; les effets des dispositifs, des politiques de formation, de Reconnaissance et de Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience sur les représentations et les relations que les acteurs entretiennent avec le travail, l’emploi, et la formation, et leurs répercussions sur les politiques d’éducation et de formation ; Institutionnalisation et internationalisation des dispositifs d’éducation, de Formation, de Reconnaissance, de Validation des acquis de l’Expérience mises en œuvre pour et par les organisations de travail, d’éducation, de formation, de certification ; Dispositifs d’innovation et interculturalité en éducation et formation des jeunes et des adultes.

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Published

2026-09-23

Issue

Educação, v. 51, 2026 – Jan./Dez. – Publicação contínua

Section

Dossiê – Theories, pedagogical, formative, and deliberative practices in favor of emancipatory and democratic expression?

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