My research has focused on the study of teaching professions, their learners and the way in which their respective specificities influence the pedagogical practices implemented, in terms of both content and teaching methods. By taking an interest in different disciplines such as philosophy, history, sociology and political science, they are part of the history of human and social sciences. Begun as part of a thesis on the Centre Universitaire Expérimental de Vincennes, which opened its doors in the summer of 1968 to a large number of students with no baccalaureate (around 20%), this research is being carried out with the aim of contributing to our knowledge of teaching practices likely to contribute to the democratization of academic success and improved access to learning, knowledge, culture and the arts. I began by studying and comparing teaching practices in the departments of various higher education establishments during the 1970s (the universities of Vincennes, Nanterre, Paris 1, Dauphine and "Science Po" Paris), looking at them from the angle of the specificity of their discipline, as well as the social and academic properties of their teachers and students.

As part of an ESPE recruitment program, I studied school teachers, their social and academic recruitment and their training. Tasked with evaluating the effects of an experimental training scheme set up at the Antony site of the ESPE of the Versailles academy, I conducted a quantitative survey of the entire class of M2 MEEF 1 students at the Antony site of the ESPE of the Versailles academy. 241 trainee teachers were questioned by questionnaire about their social, educational and professional background, their current working conditions and their perceptions of their professional skills, as well as the training they receive (they are part of two separate schemes, one of which is "experimental", and the aim of my research is to assess its relevance). The results of the questionnaire show that the specific features of the experimental training scheme for trainee schoolteachers, which include a specific alternation between in-service training and university training (3 weeks/3 weeks, instead of 2 days/2 days), closer collaboration between university trainers and with "field trainers", and a cross-disciplinary, skills-based approach that places less emphasis on a disciplinary approach, seem to be more conducive to the acquisition of professional knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills than the "classic" scheme. In addition to evaluating this experimental training program, the aim of this research is to gain a better understanding of this student population, so that we can better meet their expectations, both in initial and continuing training, by promoting greater individualization of courses, particularly through remedial teaching. Its aim is therefore both heuristic and practical.

In addition to this research, which I was able to carry out directly, I undertook to get all M1 MEEF 1 students at the Antony site of the ESPE de l'académie de Versailles, for whom I teach "Introduction to research", to work on problematic professional situations. By interviewing school teachers on this theme, they were led to produce research reports combining the mobilization of scientific works and the testimonies of the interviewees. The 92 interviews conducted by these students give an idea of the professional difficulties that school teachers may encounter on a daily basis, in terms of managing their pupils' behaviour and learning, as well as their relations with parents, partners, superiors and colleagues. 

My research methods combine qualitative approaches (interviews, archives, observations, analysis of documentation) and quantitative ones (questionnaires, statistical analyses).

Jury: 

• Ms Brigitte Gaïti, University Professor, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, (Chairman)
• Mr Laurent Jeanpierre, University Professor, Paris 8 Vincennes-St-Denis, (rapporteur)
• Mr Bernard Pudal, Professor Emeritus, Paris 10 Nanterre, (thesis supervisor)
• André Robert, University Professor, Lyon 2, (rapporteur)
• Mr Charles Soulié, Senior Lecturer, Paris 8 Vincennes-St-Denis (examiner)

Building on social history renewed interest for the “long 1968” period, this work seeks to understand both the conditions of possibility of an institution such as the “Experimental University of Vincennes” (Centre universitaire expérimental de Vincennes) and the way it was initially shaped by the practical concerns and projections of its planners, creators and first actors. Between a sociology of education policies and a social history of intellectual fields, the history of this university experiment adds to our knowledge of the symbolic crisis of May 1968, and paves the way for a history of ideas which simultaneously takes into account the mobilized and mobilizable actors that are students and professors, and their negotiation with the political power.On a macrosociological scale, this research aims to shed light on the logics that led to the morphological and symbolic development of the University since the 1950s and adds to our knowledge of the functionning of the state and policial power in a context of crisis. On a microsociological scale, it focuses on the logics of action of social actors and seeks to understand how and why, according to which representations, dispositions and interests, actors (both individual and collective) assume their roles and “professions” (of high-civil servants, political leaders, “intellectuals”, professors, students), without underestimating the constraints that are imposed on them. This work is based on complementary materials (archives, interviews, biographies, and statistics) which put in perspective “quantitative data” and “qualitative data”, combining two scales of analysis.