Teaching Republican Values in France

Extract

[...] In theory, socially and politically speaking, the teaching of the values and principles of the Republic does not pose a problem. Nevertheless, in the classroom, the situation appears more difficult, as children cannot help but bring their outside lives into the school environment. Far from received ideas, the school is not a sanctuary or is no longer one. The loss of identity, of landmarks linked to the individualism of our consumer societies, seriously alters the feeling of belonging to the same community of destiny that is the French Nation. [...]

[...] Regardless of the date, regardless of who you are, regardless of where you are located, the principles and values of the Republic are decisive in the good development and emancipation of any human being who wants to become autonomous and live with full awareness of their intellectual and human abilities. The current tension relates to the general consent to this teaching in a French society whose complex, multifaceted aspects are sedimenting (overlapping) and crystallizing (strengthening). Indeed, the French population is no longer as homogeneous as it was in the last century; this dimension must be taken into consideration if we want to understand the level of adherence and the threshold of tolerance of French public opinion, which is both uncertain and demanding on a subject as structuring as the teaching of the principles and values of the Republic. [...]

[...] Indeed, the objectives set by the institutions, even republican ones, are not the same depending on the period and context. Thus, the words do not always conceal the same meaning depending on the priorities of the moment. Today, the institutions of the Fifth Republic and President Macron's administration wish to see a return to national unity, regardless of the international context. The rise of violence, incivility, and the feeling of general insecurity leads to increasingly firm positions. The France of tomorrow is being prepared today in schools. [...]

[...] Today, the question of teaching the principles and values seems obvious as the tensions are great within French society. In the face of the challenges that threaten our country, including the war in Ukraine or the attempts at Islamist terrorist attacks, the teaching of the values and principles of the Republic takes on all its meaning. Thus, we can formulate our problem: In what way is the teaching of the values and principles of the Republic a major national issue? [...]

[...] Teaching proceeds via perspective. Indeed, there is a global social demand that always defines what teaching should be. This social demand or social pressure is what is similar to the general context in which the country finds itself and from which objectives are set. Social demand is often expressed through the voice of parents or parents' associations. But more broadly, this social demand is an expectation of a response regarding the role of the school in general and the teaching of such and such a thing in particular. [...]