[Foundation-l] university blocking wikipedia

[Florence Devouard]

Florence Devouard wrote:
> Thomas Dalton wrote:
>>> Ask them to cite their sources :-)
>>> (for example, ask the person to provide names of universities
>>> supposingly doing that)
>>> Then, if the person reveals unable to provide any names, adopt a very
>>> serious and dignified face, nod gravely, and says "urban legends are
>>> terrible. I wish so much people would start using figures and citing
>>> sources when they make a claim. We should ban sentences starting by
>>> "many says that", or "some people consider that" or "Most people know
>>> that"".
>> You want to pass [[WP:WEASEL]] into law? Sounds like a plan. Everyone
>> pick a country, and we'll start work.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> foundation-l mailing list
>> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>>
> 
> Let me pick up France :-)
> 
> Recently, I read a report from a French teacher. He enjoys a certain 
> reputation in the teaching environment, so whilst not all agree with 
> him, he is certainly listened to by many.
> 
> He made a comment which I thought was interesting.
> 
> He said "Wikipedia can not be used in the French formal educational 
> system (schools) because our nation is laic, whilst Wikipedia follows 
> the neutral point of view. Being laic means that our schools precisely 
> chose a certain value framework and deliberately educate the kids to 
> hold certain beliefs and share certain values. On the contrary, 
> wikipedia holds that all points of view must be given room. For this 
> reason, Wikipedia is not compatible with our schooling system and should 
> not be used as a resource".
> 
> I found that approach interesting indeed. For once, the issue he was 
> raising was not so much a question of quality or of stability of the 
> information, or even of manipulation, but simply a statement "we want 
> our kids to learn that certain things are true, and others are not true. 
> Or certain things are good, and others are not good. Wikipedia is a 
> great resource, but can't be used as teaching support".
> 
> Topics that come to my mind are of course topics such as revisionism, 
> cults, creationism, or pedophilia.
> 
> ant

For the French, the reference is

Bruillard "le phénomène Wikipedia interpelle le monde enseignant. Quelle 
confiance peut-on accorder à une encyclopédie rédigée par ses lecteurs 
et dont les articles sont modifiés en permanence ? Quelle place l'Ecole 
peut-elle lui faire". Méd1alog, N°61 mars 2007. Unfortunately not freely 
available on internet, but mentionned in several places on the net.

In any cases, he does not deny WP exists, nor its success, and is 
absolutely not opposed for it to have its place in the schooling system.
What I actually find interesting is that some authors of wikibooks, 
naturally stick to their nation curricula, thus recreating this value 
system :-)

ant