Towards ethical and collaborative innovation in education
Combining clinical remedial education and systemic psychopedagogy as an alternative to the medicalization of schools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37870/joqie.v16i27.557Keywords:
School inclusion, clinical orthopedagogy, adaptative behavior, systemic psychopedagogy, self-determination, capabilities, HumanRights4Prosperity (HR4P)Abstract
The article proposes an alternative to the medicalization of school difficulties by articulating clinical orthopedagogy (micro level) and systemic psychopedagogy (meso and macro levels). It starts from the observation that school inclusion remains limited when it is not accompanied by a structural transformation of educational environments, which fosters a tendency toward the pathologization of students and institutional disengagement. Clinical orthopedagogy operates at the individual level by supporting learning, adaptive behavior, and self-determination, without reducing the student to a disorder. Systemic psychopedagogy, through the HumanRights4Prosperity (HR4P) model, aims to transform educational structures by aligning them with human rights. Analyses conducted across different contexts (Belgium, Morocco, Mali, Guinea-Bissau) suggest that the effectiveness of educational responses depends on the coherence between micro, meso, and macro levels. The article thus formulates the hypothesis that the excessive medicalization of educational difficulties can be interpreted as the symptom of misaligned systems, unable to ensure protection, recognition, and participation. It therefore proposes shifting the focus from individual deficits to collective and institutional responsibilities.
References
Ainscow, M. (2005). Developing inclusive education systems: What are the levers for change? Journal of Educational Change, 6(2), 109–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-005-1298-4
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.);
Boutaleb, K. & Boutaleb, O. (2020) La problématique de l’opérationnalisation du concept de développement humain : portée et limites de l’IDH. Revue algérienne des Etudes de population Vol 3
Bourgeois, E. (2018). Le désir d’apprendre. Paris : Presses Universitaires de France.
Broekaert, E. (1997). Orthopedagogical treatment of youth with emotional and behavioral disorder. Leuven : Garant.
Conrad, P. (2007). The medicalization of society: On the transformation of human conditions into treatable disorders. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Convention relative aux droits de l’enfant (CDE,1989). Nations Unies.
CSEFRS : Pour une école de l’équité, de la qualité et de la promotion. Vision stratégique de la réforme 2015-2030, Rabat, 2015. Voir site du Conseil (en arabe et en français) : www.csefrs.ma.
Daoudi, H., & Haelewyck, M.-C. (2013). L’Échelle québécoise de comportements adaptatifs au Maroc : The Quebec Adaptive Scale of Behaviour in Morocco. Revue francophone de la déficience intellectuelle, 24, 126–140. https://doi.org/10.7202/1022422ar
Déclaration de Salamanque et cadre d’action pour les besoins éducatifs spéciaux. (Unesco, 1994)
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268
De Munck, J. (2008). Amartya Sen et la liberté. Revue du MAUSS.
Goupil, G. (2014). Les élèves en difficulté d’adaptation et d’apprentissage (4e édition). Montréal, Canada : Gaëtan Morin éditeur.
IGhB (2016) – Guidelines Heilpädagogik
Kraijer, W. (1993). L'utilisation de la classification internationale des handicaps : déficiences, incapacités et désavantages (CIH) dans le domaine du retard mental. Strasbourg : Editions du Conseil de l’Europe.
Meirieu, P. (1991). L’école, mode d’emplois : des « méthodes actives » à la pédagogie différenciée. Paris : ESF.
Morin, E. (2005). Introduction à la pensée complexe. Seuil.
Nirje, B. (1972). The right to self-determination. Dans W. Wolfensberger (Ed.), Normalization : The Principle of Normalization (pp. 176-200). Toronto, ON : National Institute on Mental Retardation.
Nussbaum, M.C. (2011). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Harvard University Press.
Pacte mondial des Nations unies (Global compact, 2000 )
Principes directeurs relatifs aux entreprises et aux droits de l’homme (UNGPs,2011). Haut-commissariat des Nations-Unies aux droits de l’homme.
PNUD (1990). Rapport sur le développement humain. Nations Unies.
Rey, B. (1996). Les compétences transversales en question. Paris : ESF
Rey, O., & Feyfant, A. (2012). L’innovation en éducation : quels enjeux ? Dossier de veille de l’IFÉ, n° 70, ENS de Lyon.
Tourrette, C. (2006). Evaluer les enfants avec déficiences ou troubles du développement. Paris : Dunod
United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
United Nations. (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Szasz, T. (1961). The myth of mental illness: Foundations of a theory of personal conduct. Harper & Row.
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Sen, A. (2009). L’idée de justice. Flammarion.
Sen, A., & Haq, M. ul. (1990). Human Development Report. New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Warnock, M. (1978). Special Educational Needs: Report of the Committee of Enquiry. London: HMSO.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 The Journal of Quality in Education

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
