Rethinking the idea of normal and pathological in education - contributions of Canguilhem's thought

There is a growth in the use of medicines in children and adolescents as never seen before. Schools, as recent studies show, contribute to this growth. In fact, even the State encourages teachers to be prepared to identify any indication of disorder. The fact that a large percentage of school-age people have a biological disorder is based on a conception of normal and pathological in which an average is taken as an ideal reference. However, the idea of normal and pathological can be put questioned based on a study that comes from medicine itself - this is the case of Georges Canguilhem's reflections. Although his work had no impact in medical ground, it was fundamental in human ground, because it offers a conception of normal with transformative potential. Normal would not be someone who follows an ideal norm, but someone who is able to establish a new norm. Canguilhem's conception, as it is intended to show, can lead us to rethink what we consider a disorder and it has a critical potential in school, as it brings the responsibility of listening to each case. In this paper, Canguilhem's innovative position will be presented and how it still gives us a possibility to rethink the idea of disorder in people of school-age.