Sheet of COTTEZ Rémy

Supervisors : Sandrine Garcia and 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