Monday January 4, a history-geography professor, teacher at the Blattières college, in Lyon, decided to resign, after seventeen years of career. On November 9, shortly after the assassination of another history and geography teacher, Samuel Paty, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines), he was attacked by a parent of a student who had criticized him for a course on secularism and accused him of Islamophobia. On November 15, his daughter was surprised in college with a knife. She had been excluded for a day, without going before the disciplinary council.
Protests and self-censorship
Enough is enough. The teacher was offered a transfer. His colleagues went on strike in solidarity. Finally, the professor ended up throwing in the towel. He would now consider becoming a baker.
“In history-geography, we tackle secularism about once a week, we do geopolitics almost every week, we have questions that rub at every moment, and we, each time, we weigh our words to answer normally. If we can’t do it in a serene setting, I don’t see why I could do it any more, and moreover with intellectual honesty. Even if it means feeding, I prefer to feed stomachs rather than brains ” , said the professor to France 3 Rhône-Alpes .
Alas, this case is not isolated. According to a study by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation published on Wednesday January 6, 36% of teachers claim to have already been confronted with teaching challenges in the name of religious, philosophical or political convictions; 49% admit to having already self-censored, a figure up thirteen points since the last survey conducted in 2018.
More broadly, 80% of teachers say they have already been confronted at least once during their career with a claim related to religious beliefs or practices; 65% say they have already been confronted with absences linked to the exercise of worship or the celebration of a religious holiday, 47% to requests for confessional meals in canteens, 40% to absences of young girls in physical education and sports classes (with or without medical certificates), 28% refusal to enter religious places during school trips, or 21% refusal to give someone a hand in the name of religious convictions.
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