Les appartenances identitaires et la construction d'une posture énonciative chez les élèves: un exemple en classe d'histoire

History teaching in schools aims to disseminate subject-specific content to pupils as well as inculcate specific modes of thinking, enabling them to understand the past. However, this understanding stems from disciplinary knowledge instead of common sense knowledge. During a history lesson on immigration, the social groups under study are subjected to stereotyping and social hierarchical order emanating from intergroup relations. We will argue that the mobilization of these groups may constitute an obstacle understanding the various situations studied. The aim of this article is to highlight four pitfalls of history teaching in a secondary school classroom in Geneva, Switzerland. Through the analysis of an extract of classroom interaction during a history lesson, the following observations emerge. Firstly, pupils find it difficult to adopt a discursive stance while taking into account multiple voices. Secondly, certain key concepts of history are insufficiently conceptualized. Thirdly, pupils as individuals have a strong tendency to identify themselves with a nationalistic standpoint, as seeming reduced sense of essentialism. Lastly, an overgeneralized discourse in the classroom leads to dehumanization of certain social groups under study.