The Paradidactic: A (Would-Be) Fundamental Theory of Noospheres

This paper mainly describes the highlights of my plenary talk in the CITAD 7 about the universe of the paradidactic, a theory of which, within the framework of the ATD, has emerged and continued to grow over the past ten years. To make a long story short, the adjective paradidactic was proposed by Carl Winsløw for studying schoolteachers’ “didactic” activities outside of their own lessons activated during planning and analyzing their teaching before and after them. However, once we reinterpret this idea with the help of a generalizing mind and a symbolizing manner as usual in the ATD, we can recognize that it is more than that and deeply connected to the notion of noosphere, which is a classic but relatively inconspicuous element of the ATD. In my view, the following theory of paradidactic reality allows didacticians to reacknowledge the vastness and complexity of the didactic. Besides, this paper also includes some supplements to the plenary talk.