By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
In a bid to reshape educational frameworks in response to rapid societal shifts, the Université de Sherbrooke recently launched the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire en didactiques (CRIDid), led by Professor Abdelkrim Hasni. This research hub brings together interdisciplinary teams to re-evaluate what is taught in schools, how it’s taught, and why—centralizing questions of equity, diversity, and the role of technology.
In a recent interview, Dr. Hasni emphasized the need for education to evolve alongside society. “Education can no longer remain disconnected from society’s evolution,” he noted, highlighting how traditional curriculum has often lagged behind contemporary realities. For Hasni, this gap is particularly visible in subjects like science, where students are commonly taught core concepts but not necessarily how to engage with real-world applications or pressing societal issues. “To become informed citizens, students need to learn not just scientific concepts, but also the societal issues tied to them,” he explained, citing debates on vaccination, wildlife conservation, and climate change as examples where scientific understanding intersects with public discourse.
CRIDid, with funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, is set to become a leading centre in the Francophone world for educational research. It is one of only three Quebec-based research groups of its kind, with a mission that extends beyond provincial borders to influence education practices across Canada and internationally. The centre’s approach is rooted in interdisciplinary collaboration, where various educational fields engage in dialogue to address complex issues like digital learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and social equity.
