Conference Program

Our presentation examines contemporary changes in the primary school teaching profession in France. From a socio-historical perspective and based on data from a national study conducted for the Ministry of Education in 2017-2018, we show how this group has undergone profound changes since the end of the 20th century, affecting its morphology, mandate, and professional license (Hughes, 1996). These changes are taking place in a regulatory environment marked by instability, regulatory inflation, and the growing influence of new public management reforms (Broccolichi & Garcia, 2021; Grimaud, 2024; Levasseur et al., 2020). At the same time, the expansion of the division of labour in schools and the increasing involvement of other educational professionals — in particular those mobilised in the context of inclusive education — (Charles et al., 2023) are reshaping the boundaries of teachers’ work.
Based on a mixed methodology combining a representative survey of 3,263 primary school teachers and 43 in-depth interviews, our contribution analyzes how teachers perceive their working conditions and how these perceptions intersect with the managerial injunctions circulating within the school institution (Connan et al., 2025). Our analysis of regulatory texts shows that the rhetoric of New Public Management is indeed present, albeit in a partial and diffuse form, contributing to the redefinition of institutional expectations regarding teachers’ practices, accountability, and pedagogical individualisation framed around “educational needs”.
In practice, these developments translate into intensified work, an accumulation of “new” tasks, and an increased administrative burden. Teachers describe an invisible and demanding workload, fueled by a rapid succession of reforms, which even the least experienced perceive as a source of tension. They identify the regulatory environment as a major factor in the growing complexity and intensification of their mandate, often without compensation or recognition. These findings echo broader analyses of teacher malaise, the decline of institutional legitimacy, and the tensions between professional autonomy and organizational, political, and media heteronomies that are reshaping educational work today.