“In my establishment, teachers who, like me, are committed to respecting secularism or the values of the Republic, have the impression of being under the surveillance of inquisitors ready to fall on us,” says Thomas* who , precisely, for fear of possible reprisals, wishes to remain anonymous. In this high school in the Parisian suburbs, located in the Versailles academy, a small group of four teachers, members or close to the SUD-Education union, regularly put pressure on colleagues who, for example, would risk reminding a young girl that wearing the veil is prohibited in the courtyard. “This results in untimely, not very friendly remarks during meetings and can even go as far as insults or defamatory remarks, such as “so-and-so is racist or Islamophobic”, made towards other members of the teaching team” , explains Thomas who, like many, has in mind the fatal spiral that led to the assassination of Samuel Paty. “What will happen if this type of false and dangerous speech is made in front of students and reaches the ears of certain families who could turn against us?” he asks.
This testimony, collected a few days before the opening of the trial linked to the assassination of the history professor from Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, has a particular resonance. From this Monday, November 4, the Paris Special Assize Court will examine the responsibilities of the eight people involved in the assassination or in the hate campaign led against Samuel Paty. In his book, Mr. Paty’s Course (Albin Michel), his sister Mickaëlle describes the reactions of the other teachers at the Bois d’Aulne college in the few days preceding the tragedy. We learn that some people publicly dissociate themselves from Samuel Paty on the college’s internal messaging system by condemning the way in which he conducted his course on freedom of expression. The most virulent believing that he would have “given arguments to Islamists” and “committed an act of discrimination” by asking students who wished to go out while showing certain caricatures. “The same person will subsequently explain to his third grade students that my brother worked against secularism, that his behavior was Islamophobic and that he did not condone his actions,” explains Mickaëlle Paty. False accusations which will help fuel the terrible rumor. “Be careful, I’m not trying to say that some actors are more guilty than others, but just to warn of the fact that this succession of ‘small facts’, put end to end, fuels a harmful system,” insists the young woman.
His revelations highlight the small or large battles that can play out in the staff room. One would have thought that the death of Samuel Paty would close ranks around secularism in schools. “Absolutely not! We talk a lot about teachers’ self-censorship in class but never in the teachers’ lounge. However, if there is one place where many prefer to remain silent so as not to get into trouble, it’s good there”, exclaims Pascal Vivier, general secretary of SNETAA-FO, the leading professional education union.
In 2021, a teacher from Henri-Barbusse college in Saint-Denis told L’Express of the discomfort he had felt when, two years earlier, union delegates had suggested to their colleagues that they vote on a motion “against the State Islamophobia”, stipulating that “we will never lower ourselves to ‘report’ a colleague or a student for their beard, their practice of prayer, their way of dressing or their way of greeting”. The text was voted on almost unanimously. “From the moment it is done by show of hands, you prefer to keep quiet and pretend to acquiesce,” he said. The names of the only two refractory colleagues were then circulated during internal email exchanges. Since then, the leaders of the revolt have left the establishment and the situation seems to have calmed down.
“The youngest teachers are also the most fearful”
For the former Inspector General of National Education, Jean-Pierre Obin, these outbursts are the work of an active minority that he describes as “neo-Marxist”: “A current for which the application of certain rules of secularism is experienced as an additional form of discrimination against Muslim students. Colleagues who do not agree are perceived as “reactors”, even “fascists””, believes the author of the book. Teachers are afraid (Editions de L’Observatoire). “An amalgamation is taking place between the old traditional secular left, historically promoter of this value, and the new converts to secularism of the National Rally who, for their part, are exploiting it to mask an old xenophobic and racist background,” explains the senior official. . On October 15, 2022, the day before the two-year anniversary of the attack against Samuel Paty, a collective called “schooling without Islamophobia” launched an appeal on the X network (formerly Twitter): “If you have had or noticed a problem linked to certain outfits (abayas, long dresses, bandanas, etc.) in your establishment, contact us. The message was addressed to middle and high school students, parents of students… but also to “education staff”.
In October 2023, a few days after the assassination of Dominique Bernard in Arras, a principal of a high school in Val-de-Marne had to intervene in the context of a dispute between two teachers. “One of them who was preparing to go on a school trip with her class had warned the female students who were in the habit of wearing the veil outside, telling them ‘I am tolerant on this issue, which is not the case for the other colleague who will accompany us,’” says the head of the establishment. The colleague in question, having heard of these remarks, became frightened. “He is used to meeting students in the metro, crossing part of the city and clearly felt endangered by this portrait that had been made of him. It turns out that, subsequently, I learned from general information that a teacher on file S was in my establishment”, continues the principal who therefore summons the author of these defamatory remarks to ask her to apologize to the member of the incriminated team and to return to this which had been said in front of the class concerned. “During our interview, she came accompanied by a union representative to whom I reminded of the delicate context and mentioned what had just happened to Dominique Bernard,” she continues. And the latter retorts: “There is no point in transforming a news item into a political fact.”
The fight led by these far-left activists in certain establishments transformed into “bastions” is however very far from winning the support of the profession since the vast majority of teachers remain fiercely attached to the secular and republican concept of school. . An Ifop survey, carried out with the Jean-Jaurès Foundation in December 2020, shows that 97% of them favor the 1905 law on the separation of Churches and State and that 92% agree with the law of 2004 prohibiting the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in educational establishments. However, a generational divide seems to be occurring between the older generation and the younger generation, who say they adhere to a concept said to be more “tolerant”, more “open” and “taking greater account of respect for individual freedoms”. Internally, the 2004 law is often the subject of discussion. “Many believe that the government is doing too much, that we are stigmatizing a population and in particular young girls with the ban on the veil or the abaya. Which is a total contradiction,” explains Deborah Caquet, the president of the Clionautes , association of history and geography teachers.
The fear of finding yourself in the middle of conflicts with students or their families is another essential element to take into account. “The youngest are also the most fearful, undoubtedly because they are also less seasoned than their elders professionally and more deprived when incidents linked to secularism occur,” explains Jean-Pierre Obin who spins the metaphor of the high jump : “Believing that the bar is set very high, they tend to lower it, or even refuse an obstacle by dodging.” Even if it means letting their comrades step up to the plate on their own. During a discussion during a school trip, Pierre*, who teaches at the Bordeaux academy, was told by a high school student that “a man should not shake the hand of a woman who does not belong to him.” “I immediately reacted by explaining that a woman does not belong to her husband, nor to her father, nor to her brother, nor to anyone. While my two other colleagues present, visibly uncomfortable, are remained silent,” he says.
Christophe Morlat, academic secretary of SNETAA-FO, recalls the attack on a member of a small rural high school, between Vichy and Moulins in Allier: “This teacher, as part of a collective cooking class, had asked for his students to take note of the recipe for a pork chop. One of them refused on the pretext that it was against his religion. At the insistence of his teacher, he threw the tray of pork at her. cafeteria in the face Then followed a debate within the teaching team “Some were very cautious about the idea of convening a disciplinary council – which will still be held – arguing that this risked creating problems. “fuel the fire”, he continues, believing for his part that the situation required on the contrary to come together to support their colleague. For Delphine Girard, professor of literature at the origin of the creation of Vigilance Collèges Lycées, a network of teachers who fight against attacks on secularism, nothing worse than this feeling of loneliness. “Those who join us all tell us that it makes them feel less isolated,” she explains.
On October 13, Anne Genetet, the Minister of National Education, announced that she wanted to “increase the volume of hours devoted to secularism and the values of the Republic” in initial training. “But all this will be of no use if we do not verify, in the end, that our colleagues truly adhere to these republican values,” insists Pascal Vivier. Shortly after the assassination of Samuel Paty, Thierry*, who teaches in a high school in Avignon, interrupted a conversation in the teachers’ room. “The team came back to the case and we heard ‘yes, but…’, implying ‘at the same time, perhaps he had failed in his mission’, he says . I threw a tantrum! A man had just been brutally murdered and we were discussing what he could possibly have done wrong. Honestly, how could it have come to this?
* The first name has been changed
.