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Dossier - Les corps à l’école

Schools and cultures through the lens of the body

Introduction
Écoles et cultures au prisme des corps. Introduction
Las escuelas y culturas desde el prisma de los cuerpos. Introducción
Séverine Parayre, Maroussia Raveaud et Yannick Tenne
Traduction de Maroussia Raveaud
Cet article est une traduction de :
Écoles et cultures au prisme des corps [fr]

Résumés

Ce dossier sur les corps à l’école s’intéresse au corps comme moyen, outil ou ressource au service de l’éducation, en se penchant sur les interactions quotidiennes qui éclairent le vécu des acteurs. Les trois axes du dossier sont la place du corps dans les apprentissages ; le corps dans les relations a soi et aux autres ; et les représentations du corps. Des études de cas issues de douze pays font ressortir la diversité des philosophies du corps qui sous-tendent les pratiques et explorent comment l’enfant apprend avec et par son corps. Le corps est au carrefour d’enjeux multiples : pédagogiques, identitaires, civiques, moraux, éthiques, religieux et politiques. Sa mobilisation met en lumière un projet éducatif, voire un projet de société.

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Texte intégral

1Schools welcome young children who are lively, playful and noisy; later adolescents undergoing profound changes, discovering novel emotions and sensations, building a sense of self via their bodies, portraying themselves and projecting themselves into an adult future. Yet this omnipresent body is seldom explored from the perspective of education and schooling. This dossier sheds light on the gradual journey from the intimate body (‘I am my body’) to the social body (incorporating family and social norms) and the body in relation to others.

2Eleven articles consider case study material from twelve countries (Australia, Japan, Canada, Bulgaria, India, Morocco, Cameroon, Brazil and Iran, plus comparisons between New Zealand and Japan, France and Germany). They point to bodies that are ‘created’ through public policies and daily interactions at school, shaped in part by geographical, ideological and cultural contexts and by educational and pedagogical choices.

3Choosing the angle for this special issue and identifying international authors was not straightforward. The guest editors wanted to convey a sense of the lived experience of actors – children, teens and teachers – through case studies providing insights into how bodies are used and mobilised on a daily basis across the different contexts, asking what degree of freedom bodies are allowed and what constraints bear upon them. Among many possible approaches of the body at school, we focused on everyday interactions that shed light on the daily experiences of the participants rather than turning to disciplines where the body is typically more central, such as music, visual arts, theatre or physical education1. Rather than a medical, psychological, political or media perspective, we chose to emphasize the societal dimension by analysing field observations and considering the web of relationships and representations they are bound up in, so as to access their deeper meaning. Indeed, the place of the body at school reflects each context’s particular educational history, underpinned by a distinct social project and specific family, cultural and social norms that may or may not sit easily with the school culture. Contributors were invited to focus on three main themes: the place of the body in teaching and learning; the body in relation to self and others; and representations of the body at work. These themes also guide the analytical bibliography by Marion Latour and Anna Polewka with its valuable identification of recent resources from across the world.

4We avoided revisiting topics covered in previous dossiers of the Revue Internationale d’Education de Sèvres. Although the body has rarely been addressed directly – except in issue No. 89 (Health in Schools), which deals with hygiene, cleanliness and prevention – it underpins or implicitly features in many dossiers. The body is obviously in the spotlight of physical education (PE), just as it is central to Art Education (No. 42), Music (No. 75) and Oral Practices in Education (No. 86). School Spaces (No. 64) take the needs of the body into account to varying degrees, and may contribute to Change: Opening Up New Possibilities (no. 46). Issue No. 92 (Experiencing Disability at School) raises the question of accepting bodies, movements and behaviours that are outside the norm, echoing themes explored in issues No. 78 (Welcoming All Children at School: The Question of Inclusion), No. 53 (Quality, Equity and Diversity in Preschool Education) and No. 63 (School and Cultural Diversity). Punishments can leave physical marks (No. 81, Sanctions in Education), reflecting educational choices in terms of Trust, Education and Authority (No. 72) as well as views on Pleasure and Boredom at School (No. 57). In the classroom, bodies can be harnessed for learning (No. 50, Classroom Pedagogy and Cultural Values; No. 29 How Students Learn) according to Teachers’ Beliefs and Professional Practices (No. 84).

5The articles in this dossier focus on the transformations on the path from childhood towards adulthood and highlight the multiplicity of spaces and cultural environments in which bodies move, develop and integrate. We are invited into schools to witness children’s bodies evolving: from an unruly being beyond the understanding of rules, how do bodies become receptive to school learning, respectful of others and aware of what it takes to function as a community? From early childhood to secondary education, contributors explore what is happening on the ground in their context through ethnographic observation (Morocco, Canada, New Zealand-Japan comparison), action research (Bulgaria), interventions with trainee or qualified teachers (Australia, India), school textbooks (Iran, France-Germany comparison), historical study (Japan) and interviews (Brazil, Cameroon). Analyses highlight the manifold conceptions of the body underpinning education practices, and the complexity of school environments where expectations may vary depending on time, place and who you are interacting with.

Learning as a body

6Schools alternate between silencing, tolerating or mobilising the body and its manifestations, and these strategies can correspond to a range of purposes. A central theme in this dossier is how the body is harnessed for teaching and learning, and how children learn with and through their bodies.

Occulted bodies – a dominant and persistent paradigm

  • 2The idea of a Cartesian split is contested by some historians and philosophers such as Jérôme Basc (...)

7The countries studied in this issue are steeped in diverse educational and philosophical traditions regarding the mind-body relationship. However, the authors largely agree on the existence of an educational archetype, characterised by the separation of body and mind, which they ascribe to the thinking of Descartes: seven articles refer explicitly to “Cartesian dualism” or to the colonialism that spread this model beyond Europe. The point is less a detailed analysis of Descartes’ thought2 than a convenient and universally recognisable shorthand that serves as a foil.

8Rejecting abstract and disembodied teaching, the concept of ‘embodiment’ affirms the central place of the body in human experience: cognition is not a process that happens solely within the brain, but a dynamic process that calls upon the body and emotions, that is embedded in a social and cultural environment, and cannot be considered in isolation from interpersonal relationships3. ‘Embodiment’ is referred to in all the contributions from the English-speaking world (Australia, India, Canada and New Zealand). In line with social science research, when translating embodiment/embodied into French we referred to apprentissage incarné (embodied learning) or pédagogie incarnée (embodied pedagogy). It is also worth noting the expressions ‘learning with the body’ and ‘learning as a body’ used by Canadian authors Nathalie Sinclair and Antoine Lachance, as well as ‘learning through the body’ (Horwitz and Clavier, 2025).

  • 4  See Hoshi-Watanabe, M. (2010). Pre-school culture and new challenges in Japan, Revue International (...)

9The dominant paradigm of schooling still posits a seated, immobile, mute body as the most conducive to learning and not disturbing the class. The headmaster of a ‘modern’ school in Morocco proudly declares to Khalid Mouna that during class in his school ‘not a mouse stirs’. Few of the scenarios depicted in the dossier break free from the longstanding and persistent notion of a body that should be occulted for learning, with two exceptions being Japanese pre-school and Quranic institutions. In Morocco’s traditional schools, memorising the Quran involves the body swaying to the rhythm of the recitation, in a collective and symbolic dynamic linked to faith, tradition and community identity. Japan stands out, for very different reasons, and in pre-school education only – here a representation of the body is to be found that is based on trust in childhood and freedom4.

Losing control: a concern for teachers

10The mind-body dualism highlighted by contributors is often depicted as a tradition or legacy. Its roots appear distant, though its effects are to be felt today, sometimes intensely. At the same time, the long and fruitful contribution of active learning pedagogy has led to a gradual appreciation of the active body as an ally. A degree of consensus emerges from this special issue as far as aspirations are concerned: the authors, who share a keen commitment to improving education, largely agree that bodily engagement is desirable and that it is conducive to learning and well-being. When it comes to implementation, however, what some educators would regard as a proud achievement is merely the starting point for others. In some contexts, it can be a challenge to break away from traditional chalk-and-talk methods, where the teacher addresses the whole group from the front of the room, and where a class is understood as an entity that should progress through the curriculum at the same pace. Elsewhere, child-centred, differentiated approaches aim to adapt to each individual’s learning pace and style, in a way that is sensitive to the whole person, taking into account the child’s background, personality and vulnerability.

11Getting bodies moving is not easy to introduce into the classroom culture, and may understandably generate some apprehension. In the Bulgarian case study, Darina Kostova witnesses a transition underway, with teachers experiencing uncertainty and unease, but also seizing new opportunities. The fall of communism delegitimised a strict disciplinary heritage and created an educational vacuum. In response to the observed decline in student behaviour, the school where the author teaches introduced co-teaching, where colleagues from different disciplines are present together in the classroom. This has allowed for the introduction of small group projects, with young people moving around, being given more agency in their learning and permitted to talk to each other. After the Soviet model of excellence, competition and teacher-centred learning, seeing pupils address their peers from the front of the classroom is a major pedagogical shift.

12Harnessing the body for learning may initially raise concerns about the potential disruption that could ensue, and give the impression that teachers are losing control over the class, as expressed very clearly by pre-service and early-career teachers trained in India. In the article by Shabari Rao and Mythili Ramchand on exploring embodied pedagogy in mathematics, teachers in training recount their journey and the resistance, misgivings, if not fears, they had to overcome in order to dare opening up to a different way of teaching. However, the authors show that teachers cannot change their teaching practices in isolation. They need models and opportunities to explore their own bodies as a teaching resource, to experiment and discuss ideas with their peers. Integrating the body into learning can go against educational traditions and dominant conceptions of the profession. It is a paradigm shift that requires a change in teachers’ attitudes towards their own bodies and those of others, towards the body at school and its place in learning. This implies rethinking their professional training, and the authors lament the meagre opportunities that are available.

(Re)introducing the body into learning

13The authors in this issue consider why the body in action should give rise to apprehension. To replace deeply ingrained ways of thinking about the body, they put forward a range of didactic and pedagogical approaches that highlight how significant a contribution it can make to learning.

  • 5The metric system originated during the French Revolution and brought an end to a system of weight (...)

14One might expect the arts and physical education to be the subjects where such approaches are most likely to be found, while maths, as an abstract and rational subject par excellence, is not particularly suited to them. Yet one of the original features of this dossier is precisely that many contributions illustrate embodied pedagogy with mathematics. A comparison between France and Germany by Géraldine Suau, Florence Soriano-Gafiuk and Jean-Michel Perez shows that maths is not a culturally neutral discipline. While German schoolchildren learn about length and measurement by referring to their own bodies, for example by walking around the schoolyard to measure it, French schoolchildren have to make do with textbooks that invite them to take imaginary steps across an imaginary schoolyard. The teaching of orders of magnitude in France is purely abstract; it inherits the unifying ambitions of the French Revolution, which are based on universal knowledge and do not allow for such non-standardised, personal or local references5.

15Three other articles discuss embodied learning of mathematics, where maths is experienced through the body and by drawing on the senses, for instance using the body to form a triangle (India), placing fingers on a touch screen to multiply (Canada) or practising coordinates related to First Nations’ natural and spiritual landmarks (Australia).

16Bodily participation in knowledge creation can occur at various levels. The body can be harnessed as a cognitive tool, through the introduction of a tactile and sensory dimension (measuring with the palm of the hand in Germany, for example). Added to this can be the relational dimension of bodies interacting for the purpose of learning (collective swaying during the recitation of the Quran in Morocco). Finally, holistic approaches involve emotion and affect as much as cognition. This is exemplified through the creative and body-based pedagogy, drawing on affect, developed by Robyne Garrett for primary schools in Australia. In a series of narrative portraits, teachers trained in this approach describe initiatives they have implemented with pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. They note the transformation in the teacher-pupil relationship and movingly recount how a First Nations child and one impacted by trauma were better able to manage their anger or anxiety and engage in learning.

  • 6 It is also worth noting Omar Zanna’s (2024) work on the role of the body in promoting social cohe (...)

17The benefits of such affective and embodied approaches go beyond the scope of individual subjects and can contribute to cross-curricular learning, as in Brazil, where capoeira helps develop socialisation, integration, expression and communication, thereby building psychosocial skills that are essential for child development6. More fundamentally, the body is a resource that does not only support thinking processes but can also help children feel happier at school and enjoy learning. Introducing a sensory and affective dimension into teaching and learning practices contributes to the engagement and inclusion of vulnerable young people. It enables children and adults alike to flourish.

How people relate through their bodies –further exploration needed

18The body is a central component of the relationships that people establish with those around them, whether children or adults. This is also true of the virtual world of social media, even though the body is not directly present. Our bodies enable us to assert our identities, for instance our gender, and to position ourselves in relation to others in a complex interplay of social norms, proscriptions and taboos. For young children experiencing community life for the first time in a (pre)school setting, being seen through the eyes of others can reveal – sometimes brutally – where they sit in a set of hierarchies and norms, and they may feel judged as deficient or improper. In Central Africa, Simplice Ayangma Bonoho shows that albino children face teasing, if not more sinister prejudice, from their classmates and teachers. As children who are often visually impaired, it cannot be taken for granted that their disability will be mitigated by a pair of glasses or by being placed in the front row.

  • 7Gender sensitivity can be expressed in writing in various ways in French. In their submission for (...)

19Just like disability, differences in sex and gender are constructed through daily interactions at school. Sensitivity to the concept of gender varies greatly according to time, place and culture. Saeed Paivandi’s study on Iran is a prime example of the denial of female sexuality and gender: in the Islamic regime’s authorised textbooks, the representation of the female body is systematically used to instil codes of behaviour and morality based on segregation, censorship and control. It is therefore not surprising that the concept of gender is unacceptable or taboo, and the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are used interchangeably7.

20Gender representations matter because they influence teachers’ expectations and behaviours. Teachers may have varying degrees of awareness of the gendered representations they hold about their students. In ‘modern’ schools in Morocco, they tended to perceive girls as being naturally more docile than boys, who were seen as more restless. They adapted their teaching methods and disciplinary approach according to these representations, without even realising it.

21The teenage years lead to fresh demands and new constraints. This is a time of questioning social, academic and cultural boundaries that are beyond individual control, and also a time of discovering the body of the other, which brings with it a host of possibilities, red lines and self reckoning. It is a vital, significant stage, potentially also a worrying and delicate one for adolescents and those around them. However, sexuality and its related transformations are often overlooked in schools, just as they feature little in the dossier. Contributors tended not to avail themselves of the invitation to address issues around bodies in relation to one another, major psychological and physical changes during adolescence, how institutions view this development, and how they ensure their educational approaches are age appropriate for children and young people. Similarly, while some texts address the body of the teacher in relation to teaching and learning, less consideration is given to the feelings the teacher’s body may provoke or inspire. These questions undoubtedly deserve further exploration.

22Teachers play an integral part in the process of transformation young people undergo during adolescence; even if nothing is spoken, their attitudes and postures can express understanding, encouragement or constraint. In the media-saturated world that children and young adults inhabit, the invitation to put oneself on display and portray oneself online creates new risks and raises thorny questions related to body image and imagery, privacy and safeguarding (Guéguen, 2025). Teachers often feel helpless in the face of these issues, while emphasising the major challenges posed by social media and the development of a self-image that is accepted and valued by teens and young adults.

Contrasting representations of the body

23The Revue Internationale d’Education de Sèvres approaches topical issues by bringing together case studies presenting a range of perspectives drawn from unique histories and contrasting geographical and cultural contexts. A distinctive feature of this issue is that it includes three explicitly comparative articles (France and Germany, Japan and New Zealand, modern and Quranic schools in Morocco), as well as a dual perspective on Japan (an ethnographic study of preschool education and a history of body practices in compulsory education). Comparison is a particularly useful tool for highlighting the socially constructed nature of educational practices and serves as a reminder, should one be needed, that approaches that may seem ‘natural’ or universal are in fact social and cultural constructs. Rachael Burke and Atsushi Nanakida, comparing early childhood settings in New Zealand and Japan, show the contrasting ways in which bodies are organised through everyday situations such as group activities, play and meals. It soon becomes apparent that the notion of ‘acceptable’ behaviour is in fact a norm specific to a given context. When it comes to managing interpersonal relationships, for example, quarrelling children in New Zealand are told to ‘use [their] words’, whereas physical fights are not unusual in Japanese playgrounds and are considered an essential step in self-regulation, interactions and character formation. Seen through Japanese eyes, the emphasis on verbal communication in New Zealand is perceived as suppressing bodily manifestations and the expression of emotion.

24Representations of the body may differ when crossing borders, but rival cultures of the body can also coexist within the same country, for a variety of reasons. The Indian article discusses the complexity of considering embodiment in a context of deep social divisions associated with untouchability and the notion of purity. In Morocco, K. Mouna notes that Quranic schools and modern schools diverge in their methods and aspirations. An even more fundamental distinction, in his view, lies in the existence or absence of a ‘moral pact’ whereby the practices and mission of the school are underpinned by values that are widely shared across the society. When this pact is broken, schools operate in a moral vacuum and the institution ends up in crisis.

25Historical factors often lead to a multiplicity of models of the body. In India, Australia, Cameroon and Brazil, colonisation has created a disconnect between school practices and philosophical, cultural and religious traditions that do not separate the body and the mind. S. Ayangma Bonoho thus notes the symbolic power of the African body, expressed through myths, beliefs and therapeutic rituals.

26Even in a country that never experienced colonisation, such as Japan, Hiroshi Nakada highlights a strong Western influence on the disciplined body, alongside imperial military ambitions. Historically, school rituals were intended to shape minds according to national values and identity. In our post-war democratic era, many of these practices continue, but their meaning has evolved.

27The weight of history on representations of the body is also felt in the French reluctance to accept community identities, in the post-communist transition in Bulgaria and, more acutely still, in the ideological crackdown by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the female body. The political management of representations of the body can be obvious and correspond to an explicit ideological position, but it can also manifest in less visible but no less real ways, as in Western democracies.

Shaping the body

28From the political management of bodies to the cultural embedding of bodily habitus, the articles in this dossier show bodies that have been shaped and that have incorporated representations, attitudes and expectations. In many contexts, schools have intervened on the body – and continue to do so – in order to control individuals and make them docile. This can lead to an internalised self-discipline over one’s own body that can be observed on a daily basis even outside school premises. Educational, cultural and social norms are conveyed through the body: in Japan, for instance, the values embodied in bodily rituals at school reflect and reinforce cultural identity. Indeed, the body at school is standardised and regulated in many ways.

29Individuals thus shaped by their schooling can reduce themselves to a ‘habitus’ that they have absorbed unawares, as Michel Foucalt (1975, 2004) clearly demonstrates. School culture encourages the silencing of the body from an early age. In Brazilian classrooms, Karina Limonta Vieira identifies the colonial representations that govern occulted bodies, erasing the multiple legacies of slavery and colonisation to leave room only for a single type of dominant body. An educational drive is underway making use of capoeira to reinstate Black and indigenous bodies, with a double aim to rehabilitate bodies long denied by the dominant culture and to enable individuals to reclaim their bodies. Capoeira is an affirmation of identity, culture and aesthetics as much as it is a political statement.

30Pedagogical power over the body (Vigarello, 1978) has a significant impact, whether it is used to constrain, correct and make it more docile, or on the contrary, to give it greater freedom with a view to well-being and emancipation (Guillot, Olivier and Parayre, forthcoming). Educational materials and methods can be used for good or ill – S. Paivandi’s study of Iranian textbooks is a compelling testimony to the concealment of female bodies and their confinement to the private sphere. The issues at stake go far beyond pedagogy or education, as evidenced by the case of ‘no-excuses’ charter school networks in the United States (Golann, 2021). Founded to improve the achievement of students from Black or Hispanic backgrounds, their methods include strict discipline and behavioural scripts for silent students sitting straight, with their hands folded on the table and their eyes continuously tracking the teacher, enforced by penalties applied for the slightest breach of the rules. However, research shows that while these disciplinary practices do contribute to improved results, they are incompatible with the development of qualities such as autonomy and initiative, and fail to recognise the root causes of educational inequity (poverty or trauma, for example). Furthermore, they are discriminatory insofar as they convey the notion of minority bodies as threats that need to be controlled.

31Whether it be girls in Iran, the poor in Australia, albino children in Africa, or minorities and indigenous peoples in Brazil and Australia, bodies are the locus of major political and social stakes, and the way they are treated reveals societies constructed around models, orders and norms where some bodies are more equal than others.

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32Upon reading this special issue, it is starkly apparent that mind-body dualism dominates education practices in an increasingly digital and sedentary world. However, many creative initiatives are emerging and reshaping how schools envisage the body, often in ways that reconnect with ancestral philosophical, cultural or spiritual traditions. The coexistence of rival cultures of the body at school can generate tensions, but also foster experimentation and innovation. This dossier highlights practitioners and researchers trialling creative approaches and rethinking teaching and learning as collective, collaborative and embodied processes, drawing on the senses, emotion, affect, identity, self-expression and communication. The challenges that emerge and solutions put forward to meet them evolve in line with political, social and educational trends.

33Our journey across the continents confirms how fruitful the body is as a means, tool or resource in the service of education. Students’ bodies are harnessed in the name of goals as diverse as learning, social connection, well-being or morality; they are encouraged to sway, dance, manipulate, touch, engage in dialogue, participate in reflection and contribute to forging the emerging self. Likewise, teachers are called on to become more aware of their voices, their gestures, and the relationships of authority and power that are formed through their bodies. The body is thus at the crossroads of intersecting issues relating to education, identity, belonging, morality, ethics, religion and politics. In this dossier and in wider education research, certain areas remain underexplored, particularly with regard to gender, sexuality and the role of the media and social networks.

34Asking ‘What place for the body at school?’ ultimately leads us back to the question of the legitimate remit and role of schools. The answers are as varied as the missions assigned to education and the societies within which they are situated. Soviet collectivism, Iranian Islamism and French republican rigidities are literally embodied through practices that, beyond the body, target our allegiances and beliefs, shaping how we see ourselves and our relationships to others. The body thus functions as a prism highlighting an educational project – indeed a social project – with all its divisions and fractures, its norms and hierarchies, its hopes and aspirations. By shifting our perspective, as this dossier invites its readers to do, such norms become apparent, they can be questioned, and schools can start embracing the internal collective upheaval that takes place when the bodies of young people are genuinely taken on board in education.

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Bibliographie

Baschet, J. (2016). Corps et âmes : une histoire de la personne au Moyen Âge. Flammarion.

Foucault, M. (1975). Surveiller et punir : naissance de la prison. Gallimard.

Foucault, M. (2004). Naissance de la biopolitique : cours au Collège de France (1978-1979). EHESS/Gallimard/Seuil.

Golann, J. W. (2021). Scripting the Moves: Culture and Control in a “No-Excuses” Charter School. Princeton University Press.

Guéguen, N. (2025) Corps, apparence et image : perception, jugement et normes sociales. Dunod.

Guillot, C., Olivier, A. and Parayre, S. (Forthcoming). Le corps en éducation : inclusion, bien-être et expression. L’Harmattan.

Horwitz, M. and Clavier, É. (Eds.) (2025). Apprendre par le corps. Cahiers pédagogiques, 597. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-pedagogiques-2025-1

Vigarello, G. (1978). Le corps redressé : histoire d’un pouvoir pédagogique. Delarge.

Zanna, O. (2024). Éduquer par le corps à l’empathie : favoriser le bien-être et les apprentissages contre la violence et le harcèlement. Dunod.

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Notes

1The ‘Online Resources’ section in this issue, by Sophie Condat, is devoted to ‘Physical education and sport for health and social inclusion around the world’. It examines the contribution of physical education and sport at school to health, wellbeing and combatting inequity.

2The idea of a Cartesian split is contested by some historians and philosophers such as Jérôme Baschet (2016). The nature of the relationship between body and mind in René Descartes’ thinking is more nuanced and complex than the body-mind dualism suggests. For Baschet, it is not so much a dualistic split between body and mind, but rather a positive conception of the link between the two, which underpins Descartes’ understanding of human beings and social order.

3The analytical bibliography accompanying this dossier provides an overview of historical and theoretical approaches to the question.

4  See Hoshi-Watanabe, M. (2010). Pre-school culture and new challenges in Japan, Revue Internationale d’Education de Sèvres, 53, 55-63. https://doi.org/10.4000/ries.899. Such freedom is not to be found elsewhere in Japanese schooling, where the body is more constrained, as evidenced by Hiroshi Nakada’s article in this dossier.

5The metric system originated during the French Revolution and brought an end to a system of weights and measures inherited from the Romans, which referred to physical and bodily measurements (cubit, fathom, ell, foot, league, pint, etc.), but resulted in over 800 different units.

6 It is also worth noting Omar Zanna’s (2024) work on the role of the body in promoting social cohesion, preventing violence and fostering empathy. See the book review by Maroussia Raveaud (2025): Omar Zanna, Éduquer par le corps à l’empathie : favoriser le bien-être et les apprentissages contre la violence et le harcèlement, Revue Internationale d’Education de Sèvres, 98, 49-51. https://doi.org/10.4000/13wiu

7Gender sensitivity can be expressed in writing in various ways in French. In their submission for the Canadian article, N. Sinclair and A. Lachance avoided the supposedly universal grammatical masculine form by notating ‘enseignant·e·s’ (teachers). While our Journal encourages inclusive writing (by including the masculine and feminine, e.g. ‘enseignants et enseignantes’), the interpoint to combine masculine and feminine suffixes is not used, in order to facilitate reading for people with visual impairments.

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Référence électronique

Séverine Parayre, Maroussia Raveaud et Yannick Tenne, « Schools and cultures through the lens of the body »Revue internationale d’éducation de Sèvres [En ligne], 99 | novembre 2025, mis en ligne le 15 mars 2026, consulté le 20 avril 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ries/19241 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/15wdc

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Auteurs

Séverine Parayre

Séverine Parayre is a Professor in Education at the Institut Catholique de Paris and a member of the Religion, Culture and Society research unit. She is the director of the Master’s programme in Teaching, Education, and Training Professions. Her research focuses on health education, inclusive education and teaching practices, as well as pedagogy in higher education. She is a member of the editorial board of the Revue Internationale d’Education de Sèvres. Email: s.parayre[at]icp.fr

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Maroussia Raveaud

Maroussia Raveaud has an interest in socialisation and citizenship at school, favouring comparative and ethnographic approaches. She was an associate member of the Observatoire Sociologique du Changement (OSC) – CNRS/Sciences Po and of the University of Bristol (UK), and a senior lecturer at Le Mans Université. She currently works in voluntary organisations supporting vulnerable families and explores the impact of social, economic and family contexts on child development. She is a member of the editorial board of the Revue Internationale d’Education de Sèvres. Email: mraveaud[at]univ-lemans.fr

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Yannick Tenne

Yannick Tenne is an honorary Inspector-General of the French Ministry of Education, following a career as a teacher and inspector of primary schools. He was the director of education services in the Haute-Loire, Côtes-d’Armor and then Pas-de-Calais, before joining the office of Education Minister Vincent Peillon to head the office of the Secretary for Educational Success. He served as an expert advisor to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research, overseeing senior leadership in the French education system. He has published several articles and books on education. Email: yannicktenne476[at]gmail.com

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