Style autoritaire en éducation extrascolaire et résistance au changement : Cas des commerçants de trottoirs du marché Melen

Abstract

The title of this work is "Authoritarian style in extra-school education and resistance to change: the case of the sidewalk traders in the Melen market". It falls within the field of the sciences of education in general, and of "extra-school education and counselling" in particular. It is based on the theory of psychological reactance and that of andragogy.The problem raised is the following: the behaviourist Skinner, in his theorization of "operative conditioning", demonstrates the effectiveness of "aversive stimuli" in learning. They consist in applying a painful or dissuasive action to subjects in order to induce them to adopt a new behaviour. However, it can be seen that pavement merchants show resistance to change despite the application of an "aversive stimulus", which takes the form of repression by public authorities. The research question therefore is: "Does the authoritarian style in extra-school education to urban order induce resistance to change from sidewalk traders?". The preliminary answer is the general hypothesis formulated as followed: "The authoritarian style in extra-school education to urban order induces resistance to the change from sidewalk traders". It then gave rise to three research hypotheses, namely: HR1: The imposition of measures intended for urban order induces resistance to change from sidewalk traders. HR2: The intimidation of sidewalk merchants induces resistance to change. HR3: Violence orchestrated by the authorities in charge of urban order leads to resistance to change from sidewalk traders. To test these hypotheses, a questionnaire was administered to 168 subjects, all sidewalk traders operating at the Melen market. The "on-site sampling" technique allowed selection of the subjects surveyed. The analysis of the results using the chi-square test led to the acceptance of two out of three research hypotheses. Indeed: For HR1, α = 0.05 ≥ 0.002 =P-value, which means that HR1 is confirmed. For HR2, α = 0.05 ≤ 0.08 = P-value, meaning that HR2 is rejected. For HR3, α = 0.05 ≥ 0.001= P-value, which means that HR2 is confirmed.Ultimately, Skinnerian techniques may work in the field of child upbringing and animal rearing, it is however not certain that this is the case in adult education. By definition, adults do not tolerate the imposition of what they have to do and prefer concerted, integrative and participatory educational approaches. Furthermore, the long-running practice of side walk trade leads to psychological reactance from those who practise it as a result of a forced and non negotiated eviction. However, further research is needed in this area. For example, one can explore "participatory and media education to urban order and behaviour change of sidewalk traders"