Abstract
In this doctoral dissertation, based on the anthropological theory of the didactic, we study French speech-language pathologists’ praxeologies when they treat students with recurrent learning difficulties in mathematics. The first part presents the context of French society which leads to the medicalization of school failure (Morel, 2014). We discuss the definitions of academic difficulty in mathematics and dyscalculia, and we present our theoretical and methodological frameworks. The second part deals with the history of this profession and its relationship with the medical world. Various data are combined to identify the theoretical background of the profession concerning the management of recurrent learning difficulties in mathematics: initial and continuing training syllabuses; questionnaires and interviews with students, trainers and professionals; a corpus of students’ dissertations in speech therapy schools. The last two parts are based on the observation of assessments and therapy sessions on multiplication. The praxeological analysis of the mathematical organizations in the observed sessions is compared to that of textbooks and makes it possible to identify the differences and similarities between speech therapy and school praxeologies. The mapping of the types of tasks, based on the ostensives worked during the session, represents and reveals the didactic stake of speech therapy follow-up and the epistemic role of the educational material. Finally, the analysis of the didactic organizations within the sessions leads to the definition of the speech therapy relationship as a model of the situation. The terms of this asymmetric relationship between the speech therapist and the student-patient are most often negotiated implicitly. It is based, on the one hand, on adherence and trust in the therapist and, on the other hand, on a didactic contract established in the therapy sessions. This special didactic contract is based on fully controlled environments which reduce the student-patient’s activity to the execution of repetitive tasks where manipulation is omnipresent.