[LUM#13] School: Another Brick Beyond the Walls
Has the lockdown shaken the very foundations of the school system? Temporarily removed from the school setting, teachers and families in working-class neighborhoods have sometimes managed to grow closer and build new relationships—far removed from the usual stereotypes.
“ “We want to show that, in the face of a shared challenge—the pandemic—we are seeing a slight shift in the types of relationships that characterize the school environment,” explains Geneviève Zoïa, an anthropologist and member of Cepel*. During the lockdown, the researcher examined the relationships between parents and teachers in working-class neighborhoods, particularly in Clichy-sous-Bois and the Mas de Mingue neighborhood in Nîmes.
“Something has happened,” says the anthropologist, who also draws on the fieldwork of Julie Gameros and Tiphaine Adeline-Rousseau, two master’s students. While it is too early to conclude that these changes will become a permanent feature of the educational landscape, certain aspects of our education system do appear to have been shaken by this crisis. Starting with the hierarchical nature of the relationship between the institution and families, which is often centered on the child’s problems and the parents’ struggles to support them.
Challenging stereotypes
“During the lockdown, teachers and parents stepped outside the classroom walls and collaborated in ways that went beyond simply addressing the child’s difficulties. They were able to get to know each other outside of that very hierarchical framework where the school always dictates the rules, and to break down the negative perceptions they had of one another,” explains Geneviève Zoïa. Distance learning thus allowed some families to realize that teachers genuinely cared about the children, and teachers were able to challenge the stereotype of parents as mere consumers, with little involvement in their children’s education.
Another principle challenged by the lockdown is neutrality. A cornerstone of the French educational system alongside secularism, neutrality implies , according to the researcher , “that school must be the same for everyone and that we therefore know nothing about each other’s individual circumstances.” The introduction of virtual classrooms and regular communication by phone or email between teachers and parents has opened a window into each other’s everyday lives. These interactions have often allowed for more personalized relationships and a better understanding of each student’s unique circumstances.
“During this period, we observed a more personal dimension to these relationships,” the researcher explains. “People sign their emails with their first names, younger siblings wander into the screen during virtual classes, and they ask how each other is doing over the phone when calling to give homework assignments. Here again, we see a shift away from purely formal relationships toward something more personal.”
Open the classroom
Teaching methods have also had to adapt to these new constraints. This has been a challenge for some teachers who were unfamiliar with digital tools and had to learn them “on the job.” The results, however, have been generally positive. “Several teachers say they want to adopt these new methods, which allow them to see their profession in a different light, to personalize instruction more, and to better adapt to their students,” observes the anthropologist.
Virtual classrooms, blog creation, WhatsApp groups , and teacher-led “tutorials” for parents—for Geneviève Zoïa, “teachers opened up their classrooms and showed what they were doing at school, and on the other side, parents were surprised and grateful for the initiatives taken for the children.” ” Some students also behaved differently in this new setting, “more independent, more active because they were less exposed to the gaze of others in a virtual classroom than at school.”
Nevertheless, the anthropologist does not downplay school dropout rates, difficulties in accessing digital technology, or the sense of illegitimacy in supporting children—all of which characterize the relationship between working-class communities and the school system. “We know that working-class families are less familiar with school norms. The virus has certainly magnified phenomena we’re already aware of, but we must also look at what this situation—which is, in effect, an experiment—has made possible to change.”
Toward a New Narrative
According to the researcher, this may be one way to shift the negative narrative that schools have had about themselves for years. A narrative regularly fueled by “the PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] surveys, which show us that the French school system is discriminatory, by all the talk about the perpetuation of inequalities, by all the difficulties in changing things and implementing reforms…”
On the contrary, Geneviève Zoïa’s work reveals that, even in particularly challenging circumstances, teachers and families have often been “able to adapt and come together to overcome that pervasive feeling in these neighborhoods that pits the school against ‘them’ and ‘us.’ It’s a heartening observation! ” An observation that, far from undermining the school, adds a new brick to its foundation.
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*Center for Political and Social Studies: Environment, Health, and Regions (UM – CNRS)