DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING ACCORDING TO WHETHER STUDENTS BELONG TO THE GROUP OF GIRLS OR THE GROUP OF BOYS: THE CASE OF HIGH JUMPING IN FIFTH GRADE AT THE AVOGBANAN GENERAL EDUCATION COLLEGE (BENIN)

This article examines the challenges faced by a physical education teacher in a mixed-gender high jump class at the Avogbanan General Education College in Zou, Benin, when students are mixed based on their biological sex. Drawing on a composite theoretical framework that incorporates concepts from the anthropological theory of didactics (Chevallard, 2018) and the theory of joint didactic action (Sensevy, 2007), as well as other concepts (stereotypes and commitment), the approach adopted is a hybrid one, following the logic of triangulation (Amade-Escot and Leutenegger, 2013; Paquay, 2006; Van Der Maren, 1996). Within this framework, two sessions where the teacher separates girls and boys during the practice phase of constructing new knowledge were subjected to instrumental observation. Four of her students were interviewed, and 22 other physical education teachers completed the questionnaire survey. The data collected indicates that, generally speaking, the teacher, through the overall execution of the high jump, confirms the needs of both girls and boys identified in the diagnostic assessment and encourages the identification and use of the takeoff foot.