Sheet of COTTEZ Rémy

Thesis director: Sandrine Garcia

Thesis co-director: Géraldine Farges

Thesis : Teachers’ professional difficulties in the light of violence in schools

Our dissertation studies the professional difficulties of primary school teachers in dealing with violent pupil behaviour. Numerous surveys highlight the growing professional dissatisfaction of French teachers, who report a deterioration in their working conditions (Saillot, 2018). In particular, maintaining a classroom climate conducive to learning seems to be at the heart of their concerns (Gasparini, 2021). The schoolteachers interviewed report that they feel there is a lack of institutional support in managing these difficulties (Depp, 2023), which contributes to the “malaise” experienced by the profession, resulting in an increase in resignations (Garcia, 2023). Teachers see the lack of resources allocated to them, which contrasts with the high standards set by the institutions, as an obstacle to carrying out their duties (Pasquier et al., 2020).

This broad category includes pupils with behavioural difficulties (Ebersold & Armagnague, 2021), difficulties interpreted as a behavioural ‘disorder’ that constitutes an educational handicap (Dupont, 2016). Teachers also establish a link between inclusive schools and the destabilisation of the school order (Katz et al., 2021), which manifests itself in the most serious forms as child violence, constituting a danger to staff or other students. The obligation of schooling then constitutes a high requirement that is not accompanied by an increase in human resources to manage the growing heterogeneity in classes (Talis, 2018). This results in “prevented work” which is a source of anxiety on two counts: teachers who have to manage this behavior cannot carry out their teaching mission, but they must also contain this violence to protect themselves or avoid an accident for which they would be held responsible. In addition, the injunction to welcome all students in a “benevolent” manner (Bailleul & Obajtek, 2018) engages the teacher in “emotional work” (Hochschild, 2017) which has consequences on their professional identity, and can in the most difficult cases affect their health at work.

The thesis aims to answer the following question: to what extent are the difficulties in managing student violence part of the current transformations in the organization of schools? By investigating both public policies upstream of these transformations, the consequences on the actual work of teachers, and the changes in the school population, it is a question of contextualizing the different difficulties reported. This work is thus anchored in the sociology of education by mobilizing the sociologies of the family, professions and public action.

To do this, we rely on class observations and interviews, as well as on one of the only institutional tools available to teachers to report their difficulties: the reporting forms in the health and safety at work register, which allow them to report any dangerous situation concerning them or their students. We hypothesize that through these cards, they can find a space to express their professional difficulties and that the way in which they are taken into account fuels the feeling of being able or not to rely on institutional support. This field of investigation therefore allows us, through a quantitative study, to objectify the concept of institutional support, going beyond the simple feelings of teachers. This material can be supplemented by an in-depth study of the paths of children with behavior described as “violent”, on their socialization conditions and on their social properties, to better understand the difficulties that the school situation poses for them.

Synchronized HAL List

Rémy Cottez. When students’ “needs” compete. An impossible professorial arbitration?. CIDEF 2024: Learning with and through others in education and training. Epistemic, ethical and political issues, CREN – CREAD – Universities of Nantes, Le Mans, Rennes 2, Western Brittany, Oct 2024, Nantes, France. ⟨hal-04761299⟩

Rémy Cottez. Student violence at school: What effects on teachers’ well-being?. Spring of Research in Education 2024: “Well-being at school: what training issues?”, May 2024, Amiens (Somme), France. ⟨hal-04623803⟩

Rémy Cottez. Student violence at school: What effects on teacher well-being?. Spring of Research in Education 2024: “Well-being at school: what training issues?”, May 2024, Amiens (Somme), France.

This scientific poster is based on data from our thesis work which studies the phenomena of student violence in French primary schools. It was the subject of a communication as part of the Spring of INSPE 2024 in Amiens whose theme was well-being at school. The poster aims to question the effect of student violence on teacher well-being.

International surveys show the importance of teacher well-being which has an impact on academic results and the well-being of their students (OECD, 2019). At the same time, they reveal a deterioration in the school climate in France (Bernigole et al., 2023), which is confirmed by national surveys that point to an increase in conflict situations at school, putting teachers in difficulty (Debarbieux & Moignard, 2023). The latter feel ill-equipped to deal with the major behavioral difficulty (Charpentier et al., 2021) and express a need for resources and training on occupational health issues (Vercambre-Jacquot et al., 2023). We hypothesize that this professional difficulty contributes to a disaffection for the profession, which is reflected in particular by an increase in resignations (Garcia, 2023) and a loss of attractiveness (Farges & Szerdahelyi, 2024).

We therefore wonder to what extent teacher training can contribute to improving their well-being at work. Our sociological survey, combining analysis of the prescribed, observations of schools and interviews with teachers, provides some elements of an answer. Institutional resources on the theme of occupational health are mainly focused on the individual treatment of teachers’ suffering, to the detriment of the prevention of psychosocial risks and a collective questioning of working conditions and the organization of the service. In particular, the teachers interviewed express a major source of suffering in the exercise of their profession, through the difficult management of student behavior perceived as “disruptive”. They regret a lack of institutional resources to support them in this task, feeling powerless to help the students in question, to guarantee the safety of all, and to carry out the mandate entrusted to them and which still constitutes according to them the heart of their job: ensuring student learning.

From the point of view of teacher training, it thus seems important to document student behaviors in order to better reflect on the professional postures to adopt, in particular emotional management which appears to be crucial both for the regulation of student behaviors and the prevention of psychosocial disorders in teachers. Finally, teachers express a lack of knowledge of some of the rights and regulations that govern their professional activity, in particular the work accident procedure and the functioning of the competent bodies in matters of health, safety and working conditions, which nevertheless constitute resources to help teachers and teams encountering such difficulties, and could therefore become explicit and systematic training objects. Bibliography

BERNIGOLE Vincent, FERNANDEZ Adrien, LOI Massimo and SALLES Franck, 2023, “PISA 2022: France is no exception to the general decline in performance in mathematical culture in the OECD”, (foresight and performance Ministry of National Education and Youth. Evaluation Directorate, dir.).

CHARPENTIER Axelle, DION Elise and FEUILLET Pascaline, 2021, “Teacher well-being: what do the DEPP data tell us?” (DEPP working document No. 2021.S01).

DEBARBIEUX Éric and MOIGNARD Benjamin, 2023, “PRIMARY SCHOOL SCHOOL FOR ALL? STAFF SURVEY EVOLUTION 2011-2023”.

FARGES Géraldine and SZERDAHELYI Loïc, 2024, In search of teachers, Rennes, PU RENNES, 218 p.

GARCIA Sandrine, 2023, Teachers: from vocation to disenchantment, La Dispute.

OECD, 2019, “TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I)”. Accessed at https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/content/publication/5bb21b3a-fr

VERCAMBRE-JACQUOT Marie-Noël, 2023, “International Barometer of the Health and Well-being of Education Personnel” (I-BEST 2023), Education and Solidarity Network