De la physique du physicien à la physique scolaire

From the 1960s onwards, the need to modernise science education became apparent throughout the world. Concerning primary and secondary education (grades 1 to 12), proposals in France focused on adapting the knowledge taught to the reality of new current knowledge. Francis Halbwachs, a close collaborator of Jean Piaget, warned that the difficulties of understanding scientific concepts could not be ignored and that students’ learning abilities had to be taken into account. He thus actively participated in the development of research in science education in France.