How teachers in France are shifting focus to build a confident society

At the Bienfaisance preschool, Docteur Doux – Doctor Gentle – has given new meaning to being sent to the principal’s office.

The child-sized teddy bear sits under a tent in a cozy corner of Principal Caroline Loiseau’s office, in what has been dubbed the “Infirmary of Emotions.”

Shelves of calming toys offer children the opportunity to manage big feelings. There are glowing bouncy balls, bubble wrap and – the students’ favorite – a shoebox fashioned into an angry face, where kids can stuff crumpled pieces of paper into the awaiting mouth. Today, a 4-year-old sits with Docteur Doux, as she gets over being pushed by a classmate at recess.

“How are you feeling? Is this helping you to calm you down?” asks Ms. Loiseau, squatting down next to the young girl in her Paris office, handing her a fidget toy.

“At first, when we asked students how they were, they could only nod or shake their heads,” Ms. Loiseau says. “Now, they can identify their emotions.”

Gone are the days of being “sent to the corner” or learning by humiliation – at least here. Upstairs, teacher Marie Mallet helps children name and handle emotions by doing role-play games to practice resolving conflict three times a week. And despite the setting, a visit to Docteur Doux and the Infirmary of Emotions is not a punishment. Children are encouraged to go there as part of a wider effort by the school to promote emotional awareness, among students as well as teaching staff. 

The Bienfaisance preschool is one of a growing number of institutions that are working to change the way public education functions in France. What was once a distanced, authoritative approach is beginning to resemble a model more common in North America – one that promotes student well-being and positive relationships between students and teachers.

At the heart of the shift are teaching methods that combine cognitive science and secure attachment theory, which promotes the emotional bond between caregiver and child.

Progress has been slow on a national scale – in a country where education is highly centralized and results often hard to come by. But educators at the grassroots level are getting on board, as more research points to the link between emotional well-being at school and its benefits in adulthood. 

“If we can help people build a sense of attachment and security at school during childhood, they will be able to better handle uncertainties in life,” says Michel Delage, a psychiatrist at the nonprofit Vivre en Famille (Living with Family) and a specialist in secure attachment theory. “There’s no doubt that what we learn at school affects how we act as adults.” 

Defining teacher roles

These ideas are blossoming in a country where ambiguity remains about how much teachers should act as “substitute parents” or fill emotional gaps. Some of that is rooted in lingering conceptions that once drove the country’s approach to learning: Instruction was for teachers; education – nourishing and raising – was for parents.

“Previous teaching methods were based on authority, discipline, and the child who obeys. It was never contested,” says Philippe Fabry, an independent educator in child protection and social work. “But now, we’re in a society based more on autonomy. In order to develop autonomy, you need to build self-confidence. And attachment, or feeling secure, is a determining factor in having self-confidence.” 

“In France, these ideas have always been spoken about in relation to the family, not school, but this is a mistake,” he adds.

In 2015, France’s Education Ministry made changes to the national program to reflect society’s evolution. Teachers of all grade levels were encouraged to help children grow as individuals and cooperate with others, as well as help them express their feelings and develop a sense of self. 

Those who work with children say a range of students can benefit from this kind of shift, but especially those who are already struggling. According to a 2021 report on well-being in France, students in fifth grade from low-income areas showed a markedly lower level of self-confidence than their peers.

“We have students who are very intelligent but because they’re at the lower end of the social ladder, they don’t succeed,” says Mr Fabry. “In France we have a real problem with social advancement. How can we better invest in people? Having confidence in them and making them feel secure in school are some things that can help.” 

One way French schools – public and private – are investing in the future is by joining hands with cogni’classes, an initiative of the nonprofit Apprendre et Former Avec les Sciences Cognitives (Learn and Train With Cognitive Sciences) that is now used in more than 4,000 classes from preschool to high school – including several at Bienfaisance. As part of the program, which dates back to 2011, participating schools commit to taking a more experimental approach to teaching and helping students build confidence, in an effort to reduce learning difficulties.

Though their school is not part of the cogni’classes program, educators at the French-English bilingual Lab School Paris, a private secular school, use data and experimentation to identify ways to support learning. That includes making school feel like a safe space.

“A specific feature of French students is that when they don’t know an answer on a multiple-choice test, they will leave it blank instead of taking a guess,” says Pascale Haag, a psychologist and the scientific director of Lab School Paris, where she studies the latest education research. “In France, there is a big fear of making a mistake or giving the wrong answer. And yet, research also shows us that when students feel safe in class, they express themselves. If they don’t understand, they’ll ask.” 

Observers say this intense desire to avoid error may come from an ingrained cultural tendency toward mockery in social interactions, even in classroom settings, which makes the French sensitive to ridicule.

“It depends on what led up to them being mocked, and each person will experience their own errors differently,” says Michel Forsé, a director of research emeritus at the Paris-based National Center for Scientific Research and an expert in well-being. “But if someone feels good in their skin, they’ll let an error roll off their back. Those who don’t will be much more affected.”

“Never too early to start”

Changing old habits is still a work in progress in Nyasha Hicks’ grade four classroom at Lab School Paris. During a morning exercise, students sit at their desks solving math problems, and raise their hands when they finish. Ms. Hicks gives them their time, which they diligently write down. One boy is disappointed when he finishes after the others.

“It doesn’t matter,” says Ms. Hicks, moving between the intentionally arranged semicircle of desks. “We’re not comparing ourselves with other people!”  

A model that promotes student confidence and well-being can be a hard sell in France, which still relies heavily on a system of competition from the elementary to university level. The results of the national baccalauréat graduation exam for high school seniors, for example, are made public online.

Not all teachers are on board either, and some say that may be a generational issue. Ms. Mallet, from the Bienfaisance school, says that learning about fostering students’ psycho-emotional health was part of her teacher training in 2018. But those who entered the field decades ago may have brushed off the ministry’s advice in 2015 or lack proper training.

“As teachers, we’re visited by inspectors from time to time but it’s very rare,” says Ms. Mallet. “If you’ve been a teacher for 40 years and haven’t been inspected for 20, you may not know about new methods. You stay in your old methods of teaching, of humiliating students, and no one says anything because no one sees it. It’s a big problem.”

Educators at Lab School Paris as well as at the Bienfaisance preschool hope that in time, more French schools will see the benefits of a teaching approach that aims to build more confident students. 

“We hope that what we’re putting in place will be carried through into kindergarten and beyond. In fact, we need to continue our entire lives,” says Ms. Loiseau. “If we want adults to feel good in their own skin and in life, we need to think about the words we choose. It’s never too early to start.”