Regards sur les classes des écoles congréganistes françaises d'Orient en 1906 à travers le rapport de Marcel Charlot, inspecteur de l'Instruction publique

Abstract

This article is based on a study of the report of the inspector of public instruction, Marcel Charlot, who, in 1906, made a tour of the denominational schools of the Orient. Sent by the republican state, the purpose of his trip was to give his opinion on why French congregational schools should or should not continue to be financed. In his report, Charlot develops his argument around general questions of the operation of denominational schools and more specific questions concerning the type and methods of teaching adopted by these schools. The report ends with specific proposals aimed at strengthening the secular character of French schools in the Orient. The aim of this article is, on the one hand, to restore fragments of these school realities, distant in space and time, and, on the other, to explore the reasons why Inspector Charlot saw them as threats to the pedagogy of secular school.