The Liminal Situation of Students with Disabilities in the French School System.
The Liminal Situation of Students with Disabilities in the French School System.
Thursday, 10 July 2025: 15:30
Location: SJES003 (Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences (JES))
Oral Presentation
I would like to propose an oral communication about the difficulties encountered in implementing an inclusive dynamic in the French school system.
The 2005 law "for equal rights, full participation, and citizenship of people with disabilities" grants every child with a disability the right to attend their local school. Accordingly, the number of children with disabilities increased from 155,351 in 2006 to 436,085 in 2021 (DEPP, 2021).
However, the school system and education professionals are struggling to face the challenges of the inclusion of children with disabilities. Some teachers acknowledge that they feel unprepared for the pedagogical demands necessary to embrace student diversity (Chaix, 2014). This is linked to a deep feeling of uneasiness for teachers (Ployé, 2018; Barrère, 2017) and to very uncomfortable schooling conditions for some students. Indeed, even though they are present in the classroom, the lack of pedagogical accessibility keeps them in a liminal situation, in which they are neither fully part of the system nor fully excluded (Murphy, 1987).
In a comprehensive approach, we ask the following question:
The 2005 law "for equal rights, full participation, and citizenship of people with disabilities" grants every child with a disability the right to attend their local school. Accordingly, the number of children with disabilities increased from 155,351 in 2006 to 436,085 in 2021 (DEPP, 2021).
However, the school system and education professionals are struggling to face the challenges of the inclusion of children with disabilities. Some teachers acknowledge that they feel unprepared for the pedagogical demands necessary to embrace student diversity (Chaix, 2014). This is linked to a deep feeling of uneasiness for teachers (Ployé, 2018; Barrère, 2017) and to very uncomfortable schooling conditions for some students. Indeed, even though they are present in the classroom, the lack of pedagogical accessibility keeps them in a liminal situation, in which they are neither fully part of the system nor fully excluded (Murphy, 1987).
In a comprehensive approach, we ask the following question:
- How do teachers' beliefs about inclusion and students with disabilities impact schooling conditions for students with disabilities?
To discuss this point, we will first define the concept of liminality (Saint Martin, 2019 ; Ployé, 2018). Then, we will cross-analyze institutional documents such as the educational code and the teacher competence framework, along with results from a large survey addressed to education professionals during our doctoral research, which provides insights into education professionals' beliefs about the education of children with disabilities.
We will demonstrate how the lack of operationalization of the instructions given to professionals, combined with their personal values and views on disability, are contributing factors to the failure to enable the full participation of children with disabilities in French schools.