Still shocked, two middle and high school teachers look back on the attack which led to the death of Dominique Bernard. They also talk about the atmosphere in which they found their students after the events.
Since October 13, the day of the murder of Professor Dominique Bernard in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), their words have become rare. At the end of the All Saints’ Day holidays, Pierre Sabourin, teacher in a college in Arcueil (Val-de-Marne), member of Snes-FSU, and Albane*, high school teacher, return for a cross interview on the way they experienced this tragic event.
Less than a month after the attack, what is the atmosphere like within their establishment? Were they accompanied by the Ministry of National Education before the minute of silence? What were the reactions of their students, and how to answer their pressing questions? So many questions addressed by these two teachers, who returned with apprehension to their classroom.
Questions about the memory of the Palestinians but also of young Nahel
When discussing the minute of silence, observed in every class of middle and high schools in France, Monday October 16, Albane* remembers the many questions from her students, three days after the assassination of her colleague. “They asked me a lot of very practical questions (…), why we didn’t have a minute of silence for the Palestinians or Nahel.”
During the tribute on October 16, some of his students “met their friends’ eyes and they laughed”. “It wasn’t disrespect, However, judges this life and Earth sciences teacher. It was right [le fait] to be 15 years old and to meet the gaze of your friend.” For Pierre Sabourin, it was asked “for the students to have a calm, mature reaction (…) while for us, adults, it is already a complicated theme.”
“We are thrown in front of our students with very little preparation.”
Pierre Sabourinat franceinfo
Despite different experiences, these two teachers point out the lack of preparation on the part of the Ministry of National Education: “We received an email saying that a listening cell had been set up (…) Receiving an email when you have just learned of the murder of a colleague is less worse than nothing, but it stay light”notes Pierre Sabourin.
For these teachers, school cannot constitute the only response to the major challenges facing society as a whole. “We had the impression of being the great guardians of the Republic in the face of radicalization, communitarianism, terrorism or even violence, but I don’t think that teachers are trained for that and that it is their job “, concludes this history-geography professor.
*The first name has been changed at the request of the interested party