For Jordan Bardella, the “big bang of authority” will take place even in schools. This Monday, during the conference to announce his program, the president of the National Rally (RN) explained that he wanted to toughen the tone within schools, with uniforms and a total ban on phones. But that’s not all. The leader of the far-right candidates in the legislative elections also announced the introduction of mandatory formal address at school.
Among teachers, the announcement makes people cringe. Although no school level is specifically targeted in the measure, all those interviewed are opposed to it. “A huge joke,” sighs one of them. “He must have had this idea at the bar, but it is not the reality on the ground,” breathes another who sees it “a ceremonial measure which may seem popular but which will not bring anything new”.
At college, the vows already established
Elise*, a young professor at a Val-d’Oise college, can only agree. “The RN seems to forget that students remain children. Establishing a vouvoiement to demonstrate authority is not the right way to operate.” For the 30-year-old, what does informality matter? The lack of respect depends on the framework imposed from the start of the year. “There are authoritarian teachers who are not respected by students and the opposite also works.”
If she listened to herself, the middle school teacher would speak familiar terms to her students. “I am a supporter of equality. I start from the principle that if they address me, I address them too and the same goes for informality. Conversely, we must not forget that some students may turn away if they are approached.” Despite her doubts on the subject, Elise must follow the rules dictated by the establishment and respect the vows, like all her colleagues. “From the sixth to the final year,” adds Anna*, head teacher in another college in Val-d’Oise who admits to having more and more difficulty dealing with her students on familiar terms. “These are often personal choices.”
Whatever the differences, for Anna, this measure remains a “sword in the water”. “Vouvoiement is already in place at that age, because otherwise college students risk taking liberties that are not good for them.”
“It doesn’t make sense to ask for vouching in the primaries”
For the youngest, the rule remains different. “They have to feel safe,” says the head teacher. So, among school teachers, like Jean-François, a unionized primary school teacher in Béziers, Jordan Bardella’s measure makes them laugh. “It doesn’t make sense to ask for the formal “vous” in primary schools. It creates a distance that we don’t want to have with students who, for some, only function on the emotional level.”
In fact, some children still speak very little and distancing would not solve the problem in any way. For Jean-François, the problem lies elsewhere. “We have classes that are more and more overcrowded and in fact, students who speak less and less.”
Contrary to the family environment in kindergarten
In kindergarten, the announcement would seem more like a mission impossible. “A child of three to five years old cannot speak to an adult,” says Sébastien*, a nursery school teacher in Haute-Loire. “He needs to be reassured, to be with a person he considers a reference. I find that it does not convey our values of tolerance and equality,” says the young man. Carla*, also a kindergarten teacher, is of the same opinion. “We’re with them all day and we’re still a little bit involved in mothering. Vouvoiement would be too strong a distance.” Moreover, most do not yet know the vouvoiement and barely master the French language.
After the announcement, some are already imagining resistance, like Sébastien who is against “these archaic practices”. “If the National Rally wants to put this measure in place, that will not be the case in my class.”
*First names have been changed