{"id":10119,"date":"2023-02-01T12:53:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T11:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prod-2018.frictions.co\/?p=10119"},"modified":"2023-02-21T15:17:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T14:17:31","slug":"dans-les-quartiers-nord-de-marseille-lecole-qui-veut-changer-le-monde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prod-2018.frictions.co\/english\/at-the-edge-s2\/in-the-northern-suburbs-of-marseille-meet-the-school-that-strives-to-change-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"In the northern suburbs of Marseille, meet the school that strives to change the world"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cSocrates, beating you's not a breeze!\u201d, \u201c1, 2, 3, 4, Beethoven here we go!\u201d, \u201cMarie Curie, we all follow your lead!\u201d At the Cours Ozanam, an elementary school for children aged 3 to 10 in northern Marseille, today is a time for celebration. The autumn sun is shining over the few hundred of students gathered in a circle round the teaching staff, with their parents watching from benches. The children are grouped in cross-age teams, under the banner of famous historical figures (from Socrates to Lucie Aubrac and Marco Polo), and one by one they chant their team slogan. It is now Nolan's turn to come forward, with his mother by his side. As a first-grader, the 6-year-old boy is a new student, and his mother doesn't hide her joy. \u201cYour parents and I are very proud to give you this uniform,\u201d headmaster Valentin Rebeix says solemnly. Young Nolan blushes, eager to put on the green sweater that every other boy wears at school. Once he has the sweater on, Nolan turns towards his classmates: they do the wave before they all applaud him, looking happy as if it were Christmas Day. Then his team captain, a 5th grade student, comes to take him to his seat: from now on, Nolan officially belongs to the great family of Cours Ozanam.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2014, Cours Ozanam is a part of the Esp\u00e9rance Banlieues network. The association comprises 18 non-contract schools (Cours Ozanam included) spread across the French territory, each located in a priority neighborhood. The project stems from a major event: the 2005 French riots in the suburbs, evincing the failure of public policies in these neighborhoods. As a response, in 2010, the mayor of Montfermeil (93) wanted to launch an experimental program to explore alternative solutions in the field of education. Two years later, the Esp\u00e9rance Banlieues foundation was born, with a first school located in Montfermeil and a second in the 13th arrondissement of Marseille.<\/p>\n

A pedagogy that fosters community life<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe share three fundamental pillars with all the other schools from the network,\u201d explains Valentin Rebeix, head of Cours Ozanam since one year. \u201cTo educate, to teach and to anchor.\u201d Indeed the professors of the Esp\u00e9rance Banlieues network do not only teach French, math or geography, they are also educators striving to pass on values related to social skills. \u201cOur pedagogy is based on teaching methods borrowed to Scouting: compulsory uniform, cross-age teams, contribution to chores, mini-camps, and collective games with the staff\u201d the headmaster goes on.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, everyone can be friends with anyone,\u201d claims Soumaya, aged 8, attending the Cours Ozanam for 3 years. 9-year-old In\u00e8s agrees: \u201cIn my former school, differences were a big deal, like who was less rich than the others... When I got my uniform, it made me happy.\u201d Both girls are members of the same team, named after the 20th century French explorer Anita Conti, and describe how glad they are to help with the chores together, like putting away the tables that are set every day in the courtyard for lunch, or taking care of the chickens, a common interest at the school. \u201cOne day, I'd like to be a team captain,\u201d In\u00e8s says. Assigned to the older students in 5th grade, this role consists in taking care of the youngest and making sure everyone carries on their mission, just like Emile does, as the captain of the Jeanne d'Arc team: \u201cGabrielle, you will wipe the table clean, and you, Mehdi, you'll put away the benches.\u201d Through the square glasses that make him look very grown-up, the schoolboy keeps a close watch on everyone and starts stacking the tables that the other students bring him already folded. \u201cIt's not that I particularly enjoy doing it, but it has to be done so I'm handling it,\u201d the 10-year-old points out wisely.<\/p>\n

The banlieue as a place of experimentation and innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00ab L\u2019\u00e9cole est un lieu de vie, comme une micro-soci\u00e9t\u00e9 o\u00f9 l\u2019on d\u00e9couvre et exp\u00e9rimente les rapports humains de bienveillance, de fraternit\u00e9 et d\u2019ouverture \u00bb, poursuit Valentin Rebeix, \u00ab l\u2019ambition est d\u2019avoir un impact sur les femmes et les hommes de demain \u00bb. Ce projet p\u00e9dagogique, pens\u00e9 exclusivement pour \u00eatre enracin\u00e9 dans des quartiers difficiles, se veut \u00eatre un laboratoire : \u00ab \u00e0 l\u2019image de Maria Montessori qui a d\u00e9velopp\u00e9 sa p\u00e9dagogie au sein d\u2019une Maison des enfants dans un quartier populaire de Rome, la banlieue est le lieu de l\u2019innovation que l\u2019on peut ensuite partager \u00e0 l\u2019ext\u00e9rieur \u00bb, analyse le trentenaire marseillais. <\/p>\n

Developing a specificity of its own, Cours Ozanam pursues two main ambitions: \u201cto prevent and combat communitarianism, as well as children dropping out of school.\u201d The school is actually the one where social diversity is the strongest compared to the rest of the Esp\u00e9rance Banlieues network: one in two pupils comes from a priority neighborhood, especially from la Cit\u00e9 des Lauriers, \u201cone of the ten most difficult in France,\u201d Valentin points out. Medhi, Elyes and Besma therefore interact with C\u00f4me, Salom\u00e9 or Tim\u00e9o on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

Providing parenthood support and an opening on the neighborhood<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to provide children with a real social diversity and community life is such a great opportunity,\u201d Blanche-Astrid notices. She is a mother of three, with two children of school age who both attend Cours Ozanam. She came to witness her five-year-old son Camille receive his uniform, and she appreciates this \u201cprivileged environment\u201d: no more than 15 students per class, teachers who are very much involved, and \u201cfreedom for all to live their religion as something they can talk about, not a taboo.\u201d Not far from her, another mother is sat on a bench talking with other parents. \u201cNo doubt about it: it is the best school of Marseille,\u201d claims Farida, a stay-at-home mom. \u201cWe live in the 10th arrondissement, it takes us 45 minutes to get here, but it's worth the ride.\u201d And yet, she had put her two daughters in private preschool and elementary school. But here, she says, \u201cwe can communicate with both professors and other parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since it opened in 2014, Cours Ozanam chose to develop another project in parallel to the school, dedicated to supporting parents: the staff paying the families' homes a visit, workshops (to train in homework support, screen time management, family games, nutrition) and weekly coffee-meetings for parents. \u201cI'm going every week,\u201d Farida says, \u201cyou can ask as many questions as you want and we give each other tips for handling homework.\u201d \u201cI attend the coffee meetings from time to time, to share the struggles and joys of other parents,\u201d Blanche-Astrid explains. \u201cIt helps me to really experience different perspectives and open myself to the neighborhood.\u201d In keeping with their view of school being a micro-society, Cours Ozanam also builds partnerships with company directors, the nearby retirement home, and neighborhood associations. Farida was able to attend a workshop of professional reintegration with one of the associations, \u201cMassajobs\u201d. \u201cOverall, it's very positive,\u201d she concludes.<\/p>\n

A non-contract system: fragile but relying on solidarity<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the beginning however, Farida was confused by the \u201cOzanam approach\u201d: \u201cWe had a lot of questions about how it worked, attending a non-contract school,\u201d she recalls. Starting with tuition fees, which, albeit being adjusted according to the families' income, still costs an average of 60\u20ac per student each month. \u201cThese fees only covers up to 10% of the overall operating costs,\u201d Valentin Rebeix says. Despite being hesitant at first, Farida eventually made up her mind: \u201cFor my daughters' sake, I'd rather pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pour couvrir le budget annuel, l\u2019\u00e9cole a notamment recours \u00e0 des subventions de la Ville de Marseille et du D\u00e9partement des Bouches-du-Rh\u00f4ne, m\u00eame si \u00ab 80% de nos fonds proviennent de dons d\u2019entreprises ou de particuliers \u00bb, poursuit le directeur. Un fonctionnement qui s\u2019av\u00e8re \u00e0 double-tranchant : \u00ab c\u2019est un moteur de solidarit\u00e9 mais c\u2019est aussi un stress chaque ann\u00e9e \u00bb. <\/p>\n

Au-del\u00e0 de l\u2019aspect financier, certaines pol\u00e9miques se sont fait entendre au niveau politique : plusieurs enqu\u00eates ont mis \u00e0 jour des liens entre le r\u00e9seau Esp\u00e9rance Banlieues et les milieux conservateurs. Son fondateur, Eric Mestrallet, fut un proche du Mouvement pour la France de Philippe de Villiers. Le r\u00e9seau a \u00e9galement \u00e9t\u00e9 affili\u00e9 \u00e0 ses d\u00e9buts \u00e0 la Fondation pour l\u2019Ecole, li\u00e9e \u00e0 La Manif pour Tous et \u00e0 la Fondation anti-IVG J\u00e9r\u00f4me Lejeune. Depuis 2019, Esp\u00e9rance Banlieues s\u2019est affranchi de cette structure et \u00e9volue d\u00e9sormais sous l\u2019\u00e9gide de la Fondation de France.<\/p>\n

Learning lasting social skills<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat stuck with me the most? Being encouraged to get personally involved,\u201d says Antoine, a 15-year-old junior student now attending an affluent high school in downtown Marseille. The \u201calumni reunion\u201d the school organized this year has him come back to the place where he grew up. \u201cHere, I learned to do things by myself. That's why I'm playing an active part in my high school: I ran for Student Council and for the school board.\u201d Roya, an 11-year-old former student who started 6th grade in a nearby private middle school, emphasizes how \u201cpeculiar\u201d it felt to \u201cgo from 13 to 29 students per class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the 70 young people that now form Cours Ozanam's alumni, \u201c100% got to pick the middle school they wanted to attend, and 90% went to a private school. We celebrate it as a success, for they are now on track,\u201d says the headmaster, who takes his jacket off to go and play dodge-ball with his former students. Before he joins them, Roya adds: \u201cCours Ozanam taught me to socialize with everyone, no matter their age or culture. Here, team spirit is key!\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Don't miss the next stories ...!<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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