Opinion Piece: Fear and Respect, Hatred or Reification, Capitalizing on Abnormality – Towards a Redefinition of Norms Against Prejudices and Stereotypes to Strengthen Priority Education Networks (REP)
In a constantly evolving society, where individual and collective differences shape, reinforce, or even challenge the contours of our shared coexistence, the question of abnormality is of fundamental importance. Abnormality, whether physical, physiological, psychological, social, or cultural, is often seen through the lens, the preference given by the "discontented" to the fear of the unknown — or of going unnoticed — quite incongruously, and the fear of rejection. But it is time to reverse this destructive dynamic to better understand, respect, and integrate it into educational and societal norms, regardless of their position in the legal hierarchy, sometimes harmonized with intentional institutional stratification.
National Education, as a crucial institution for the formation of citizens from all walks of life, must play a key role in this process. It not only has the mission to educate but also to instill values of respect, tolerance, and solidarity. How then can we rethink our norms and educational practices to embrace an approach that values education on the history of beliefs rather than marginalizing immigrant children, who, sometimes clumsily but always sincerely, express overt, sometimes ostentatious signs, and who may become victims of ostracism?
Fear of Abnormality: A Mechanism of Social Exclusion
Abnormality is too often associated with deviance or deficiency compared to an arbitrarily defined norm. Whether it is skin color, obesity or unattractive appearance, visibility, sexual orientation, a disability, a difference in learning, academic training, or diverse cultural beliefs, the fear of the "other" — the one who deviates from established standards — continues to fuel prejudice and stereotypes, spread rumors, and promote non-mixing.
This fear, deeply rooted in history and social structures, leads to the exclusion of individuals deemed "different." The school, as the first space of socialization, sometimes reflects these structural biases. Children, from an early age, internalize the categories of "normal" and "abnormal," thus reproducing discriminatory behaviors observed in their environment. Young children learn their femininity or masculinity early on, with inconveniences caused by peer pressure.
Respecting Abnormality: A Requirement of Social Justice
It is essential to understand that abnormality is not a deviation from an absolute norm but a variation of human possibilities, capacities, potentials, and aptitudes, as valid as those perceived as "normal." Each person brings with them a unique perspective, a wealth of diversity that should be valued rather than feared because it is striking, fleeting, or deeply ingrained in mentalities.
Respecting abnormality is based on recognizing this human diversity and integrating differences as constitutive elements of society, not as anomalies to be corrected. This recognition requires questioning the very concepts of normality and norms. Respecting abnormality also means admitting that everyone has the right to live fully and with dignity, without being judged, discriminated against, or excluded because of their uniqueness, personality, or originality of ideas, or because of their networks where they express themselves in priority rather than spy, worsen, or inflame public debate.
Translating Abnormality into Fundamental Norms: An Emancipatory Educational Project
To simplify, the challenge for National Education is to translate this recognition of abnormality into pedagogical norms, to combat prejudice and stereotypes from an early age. It is imperative that the education system stops favoring a rigid normative approach and instead promotes education in diversity and sensitivity, whether artistic in nature, atypical, or attached to the values of meritocracy.
This involves:
Rethinking curricula: Integrating education on diversity, respect for others, and the fight against stereotypes transversally across all subjects. It is crucial that programs, textbooks, and teaching tools initiated by teachers, who are increasingly inventive, explicitly address the issue of differences and discrimination to dismantle preconceived ideas. Fortunately, we are not starting from scratch in this area.
Training teachers: Teachers need to be equipped to recognize and value their students' differences, whether related to gender, race, disability, or learning methods, which may vary depending on family backgrounds. They must learn to manage diversity in their classrooms inclusively by adapting their teaching practices to encourage each student's growth.
Promoting inclusion: Schools must be spaces where every student, regardless of their background or characteristics, finds their place and feels respected. This means fostering differentiated pedagogical approaches that account for the specific needs of some students without stigmatizing them or making them feel neglected, which could severely compromise their future educational paths.
Fighting stereotypes and prejudices: The implementation of awareness campaigns in schools is essential to promote acceptance of differences. Talking about diversity in all its forms — cultural, physical, cognitive — helps demystify abnormality and make it a topic of collective discussion rather than a taboo.
Evaluating achievements in diversity and inclusion: Social and civic competencies should be assessed within the school framework, just like theoretical knowledge. This evaluation would help measure the impact of educational actions on the development of a respectful and inclusive attitude, often remarkable among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Implications for the Fight Against Prejudices and Stereotypes
Transforming abnormality into an educational norm can have profound implications in the fight against discrimination. By valuing diversity and deconstructing traditional notions of normality, National Education can create the conditions for a fairer, more equitable, and more open society. Educational norms are so scattered across constitutional, legislative, regulatory, and administrative sources that it would not be difficult to make them a criterion to be considered and even valued as part of anti-discrimination policies.
In a world marked by growing inequalities and identity tensions, it becomes imperative to train citizens capable of thinking beyond prejudices. By integrating difference as a fundamental norm, the French school system can become a pillar of this social transformation, building on existing gains, including from positive law and the constructive opposition between children from different social backgrounds.
Towards a Society of Acceptance and Cohabitation of Differences
Abnormality, far from being a weakness, can become a strength if it is respected and valued. By committing to translating this idea into its pedagogical practices, National Education can actively contribute to building a society where fear of the other is replaced by genuine cohabitation of differences, the adoption of a habit, a process, or the beginning of a real consensus.
Ultimately, it is about building a school that not only educates but also emancipates, paving the way for a future where everyone, regardless of their uniqueness, finds their place and contributes to the common good. This ambition is both a challenge and a necessity for the education of tomorrow, a verb to be conjugated in the imperative, a fervor to be handled with care to avoid turning it into a new utopia, a superficial reproduction of ready-made thinking.