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Abstract
The purpose of this article is to explore the inner workings of a PhD thesis that analyzes the careers of women physical education teachers in France in the second half of the twentieth century. This contribution, which is epistemological, methodological, and reflective in nature, examines three aspects: the genesis of the research project, the search for archives, and the treatment of the sources. This history of women PE teachers, whose author is both a member of the community he studied and an outside observer specializing in the field of gender relations, begins by raising the question of what is identical and different. The article goes on to scrutinize the sources chosen, as well as the material, technical, and social aspects of the research. Lastly, this article focuses on ways of interpreting sources through the prism of physical and emotional experiences which a historian may undergo as he explores the archives.
Plonger dans les coulisses d’une thèse de doctorat, qui analyse les parcours de femmes enseignantes d’éducation physique et sportive en France dans la seconde moitié du vingtième siècle, tel est le projet développé dans cet article. Cette contribution à visée épistémologique, méthodologique et réflexive se penche sur trois aspects : la genèse du projet de recherche, la quête des archives et le rapport aux sources. Cette histoire des enseignantes d’EPS, réalisée par un chercheur à la fois membre de la communauté professionnelle étudiée et locuteur extérieur dans le champ des rapports de sexe, pose d’abord la question de l’identique et du différent. L’article interroge ensuite le choix des sources ainsi que les conditions matérielles, techniques et sociales de la recherche. Il se concentre enfin sur les manières de faire parler les sources au prisme d’expériences physiques et émotionnelles qu’un·e historien·ne peut vivre en ses archives.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1. The CRIS was restructured in 2015 to create the Laboratory on Vulnerabilities and Innovation in Sport (L-VIS) and the Interuniversity Laboratory of Motor Biology (LIBM).
2. The training I received in the STAPS department was not specifically related to the history of women and gender. In fact, there was strong resistance to the inclusion of the latter in French institutions at the time (Thébaud, Citation2007).
3. The Ministerial Council appointed Thierry Terret as Director of the Réunion Education Authority on 3 January 2013. He was therefore unable to continue co-supervising my thesis.
4. During the 2007–2008 academic year, when I worked as a trainee teacher to validate my Certificate of Aptitude for Teaching in Physical Education (CAPEPS), I wrote a dissertation on the issues of gender and equality in PE, which was later published as part of a book on gender issues in teacher training (Saïdi et Szerdahelyi, Citation2013).
5. I am thinking in particular of the debate around the introduction of gender in some high school life and earth sciences textbooks in 2011, of the French Parliament’s call for the creation of a commission to investigate the dissemination of “gender theory” in France in 2012, of the protests against legislation allowing “marriage for all” in 2013, and of the questioning of the “equality ABC” system for primary schools in 2014.
6. Fassin, E. (2011). Il ne faudrait pas que, dans le féminisme aussi, les hommes prennent le pouvoir [Men must not take control once again when it comes to feminism]. 50/50. Le magazine de l’égalité femmes/hommes [50/50. The gender equality magazine]. https://www.50-50magazine.fr/2011/11/14/il-ne-faudrait-pas-que-dans-le-feminisme-aussi-les-hommes-prennent-le-pouvoir/, published online on 14 November 2011, viewed on 28 August 2021.
7. It is important not to lose sight of the fact that other categories of analysis could be aggregated, including those relating to social origin, generational belonging, or even race.
8. In reference to Boaventura de Sousa Santos, who is cited by Pereira, I. (2021), “Maximiser l’objectivité et minimiser la neutralité” : du militantisme en sciences sociales [“Maximizing objectivity and minimizing neutrality”: activism in social science]. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/maximizer-lobjectivite-et-minimizer-la-neutralite-du-militantisme-en-sciences-sociales-156159, published online on 2 March 2021, viewed on 28 August 2021.
9. The relocation of the Fontainebleau collections began in 2012, before access to the site was prohibited in 2014 for safety reasons – owing to the structural condition of the main buildings. The decision to close the site permanently was taken in 2016. This closure led to a gradual redistribution of the archives – still underway at the time of writing – to the Paris and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine sites.
10. Known today as the Association for the Teaching of PE, this organization’s roots can be found in the association of former students of the École Normale Supérieure d’Éducation Physique (Higher National School of Physical Education).
11. Some of these women and men are well known in the world of PE. Some wished to remain anonymous.
12. I conducted between two and five interviews with each of the women and men I met.
13. In reference to “The Return of the Actor” by Alain Touraine (Citation1984).
14. “Before we talk about your career path, I would like you to tell me about your family environment and your family life from the earliest age.”
15. “Next, I would like you to tell me about your schooling and your time in higher education.”
16. “If we may, could we now talk about your career path? Please tell me about the different stages in your career.”
17. “Today, what are your thoughts when you look back on your career?”
18. Additional interviews based on a directive rather than a semi-directive approach allowed us to revisit the gendered social experiences that had been touched upon during the initial interview.
19. AN, archive transfer no. 19770252 art. 167: Justification for deportation, Reims, 12 October 1945.
20. The importance of viewing individual careers in a contextual light is also made very clear in the oral interviews, which reveal a number of selective memories – particularly with regard to the Algerian War and the events of May–June 1968.
21. AN, archive transfer 19940574 art. 3: Neuro-psychiatric report, Bordeaux, September 9. 1974.
22. AN, archive transfer 19940574 art. 3: Letter from the Deputy Director of the General Administrative Department to the Chief of Staff of the Secretariat of the Minister for Quality of Life, Paris, 25 November 1975.
23. During the period studied, female teachers with a minimum of 15 years of service were eligible for early retirement if they had three or more children.
24. Two recorded interviews were conducted with this teacher, on 5 February 2007 and 12 May 2012.
25. The expression is borrowed from Noémie Beltramo and Jean Bréhon in their call for contributions to a themed issue of the journal Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure, which has now been published: Noémie Beltramo & Jean Bréhon (2023). In the privacy of the historian: Sharing for the community. Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure, 46(3), 369–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/07053436.2023.2274188