Thursday, September 10, at 2:00 p.m. – Saint Charles Campus, Charves Auditorium
Virginie Baby-Collin – University Professor, Aix Marseille Université (co-thesis advisor)
Nathalie Bernardie-Tahir – University Professor, Université de Limoges (rapporteur)
Béatrice Collignon – University Professor,Université Bordeaux Montaigne (examiner)
Matthias Kowasch – University Professor, Sorbonne Université (rapporteur)
Isabelle Merle – Research Director, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université (co-thesis advisor)
Christine Mussard – University Professor, Aix Marseille Université (chair of the jury)
Marie Salaün – University Professor, Université Paris Cité (rapporteur)
At the crossroads of the history and geography of education, this thesis examines the adaptations of history and geography teaching since the 1950s and how these shed light on the relationships between French Polynesia, Kanaky-New Caledonia and mainland France. Whilst paying attention to the history of the institutionalisation of these adaptations and their implementation, I propose to examine their spatiality. Adaptations should be understood not only as institutional mechanisms but, more fundamentally, as complex social practices shaped and enacted through the agency of those involved in education. By situating these practices within a spatial framework, I demonstrate how they can foster transformative processes and forms of empowerment in both educational institutions and pedagogical practices. I understand these adaptations through the lens of critical pedagogy, with particular attention to decolonial perspectives that have recently gained increasing visibility within French academic context. The concept of coloniality, which is central to these decolonial perspectives, allows me to consider the contemporary shape of colonialism and to re-examine teaching content, practices and social relations within the school and beyond its walls in two Oceanian territories under French sovereignty. The concept of coloniality, which is central to these decolonial studies, allows me to consider the contemporary shape of colonialism and to re-examine teaching content, practices and social relations within schools and beyond their walls in two territories belonging to the Oceanian region under French sovereignty. This research is based on three field studies conducted in French Polynesia (2022) and in Kanaky-New Caledonia (2023 & 2025), during which I employed a qualitative methodology including interviews, observations and analyses of teaching and educational materials, as well as territorial and private archives.
Keywords Teaching, Oceania, Adaptation, Coloniality of knowledge, Geography of Education
The defence will also be available via videoconference, subject to registration: contact@pacific-credo.fr