Sheet of RICHARD Titouan

Thesis topic: IFEPS and EMEP: Catholic Private Physical Education Training Colleges under UGSEL Governance (1964-–1974)

Thesis supervisors: Carine Erard and Doriane Gomet (Uco-IFEPSA)

Thesis abstract:

According to Brunot Poucet (2025), “Few studies have focused on teacher training in specialised institutes in the field of physical education.” This research addresses this historiographical gap by examining physical education training colleges within French Catholic private education between 1964 and 1974, through two institutions: IFEPS, which trained young women, and EMEP, which trained young men. It investigates how these institutions shaped professional identities and practices based on differentiated social, educational, sporting, and gendered profiles. The analysis focuses on students’ trajectories, as well as on the norms and expectations governing their training. The inclusion of UGSEL broadens the analysis to the institutional framework within which these training colleges operated: its role in the certification and awarding of qualifications gave it significant influence over the definition and legitimisation of professional norms for future physical education teachers. The aim is therefore to examine the relationship between institutions, student trajectories, and UGSEL governance in order to understand how physical education professionals were trained within French Catholic private education during the 1960s and 1970s, and how this process was differentiated according to gender relations. This research draws primarily on institutional archives from IFEPS and EMEP, supplemented by UGSEL collections and records from various archival centres. Student files, grade reports, institutional documents, and correspondence make it possible to analyse the profiles and trajectories of trainee teachers. Semi-structured interviews, together with private and family archives, further complement the corpus.