Construction of the meaning of secularism’s in multicultural schools: the weight of educational choices, school and social experiences
The paper analyzes the construction of meaning secularism’s in French multicultural school contexts, in the light of theories of relationship to knowledge. From a qualitative survey with students (at end of middle school) and observations, faced with teaching content and current regulations, we describe various interpretation of secularism by those students. Their relationship to secularism varies between (in) knowledge and approximations, passivity and reflexivity, and on the level of identity, between conflict and agreement, inclusion and exclusion. Those interpretations are forged by socio-academic and personal experiences where their statuses (majority and minority) and the degree of heterogeneity of the institution operate more than the academic performance alone. We show especially how some contradictory pedagogical models are involved in a conservative interpretation of secularism, and question secularists education, which is struggling to become a site of democratic discussion.