THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS OF BELGIAN AND TUNISIAN TEACHER- RESEARCHERS IN QUANTUM PHYSICS. AN INVENTORY BETWEEN COHERENCE AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL TENSION

The teaching of quantum physics imposes a paradigmatic break with classical physics, which subjects students to atypical conceptual difficulties but also imposes new pedagogical constraints on teachers. In this article, we present an exploratory qualitative study of five Belgian and Tunisian university teacher-researchers. The aim is to explore their epistemological postures, to see the effects on their pedagogical choices and the nature of the difficulties identified in their students. Our methodology is based on the collection and analysis of semi-directive interviews in which we explored the teachers' pedagogical approach and their epistemological positioning in relation to certain problems raised by the teaching of quantum physics. Qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed the existence of coherent epistemological positions but also epistemological tensions between the status of researcher and that of teacher.