The school as universe of sense: Presentation of the research

Abstract

The paper proposes a research composed of different surveys dealing with the cultural mapping carried out between 2007 and 2009 on three different school populations (teachers, students, principals). Overall, the research included a sample of about 120 schools and 20.000 participants. The first survey concerns the students and is presented in the contribution The meaning of being at school: The Models of Signification of the school context in a sample of high school students; the second one concerns the teachers and is presented in the contribution The representations of teachers’ role identity: A study on the “professional common sense”; the third one refers to the school principals and is presented in the contribution The school system: A survey on school principals’ Models of Signification.