THE COMMITMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS TO CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN TUNISIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS: BETWEEN OFFICIAL PRESCRIPTIONS AND REAL PRACTICES.

Abstract

In contemporary Tunisia, amid a protracted crisis of civic disengagement and weakened trust in public institutions, the educational system faces renewed demands to fulfill its mission as a space for democratic socialization. Within this framework, the subject of Physical Education and Sports (PES), though often overlooked, possesses significant latent potential for cultivating citizenship through embodied learning, social interaction, and regulated conflict. This article critically examines the extent to which PES teachers in Tunisian public primary schools contribute to citizenship education, either intentionally or implicitly, in their pedagogical practice. Grounded in a curriculum sociology framework and informed by the work of Perrenoud, Bourdieu, and Galichet, the study employs a qualitative, ethnographic methodology involving participant observation and semi-structured interviews with ten PES teachers operating in socially diverse schools across the Gabès region. The findings reveal a marked disjunction between the formal curriculum largely obsolete and technocentric and the real curriculum enacted in classrooms, which is shaped by institutional constraints, fragmented professional identities, and underdeveloped pedagogical intentionality. Teachers generally demonstrate a limited, often juridical or behavioral, conception of citizenship, coupled with a reluctance to engage with its more participatory and ethical dimensions. Observed practices frequently failed to challenge exclusionary peer dynamics or gendered segregation, and rarely fostered empathy, cooperation, or democratic rule-building. This reflects both a lack of civic-oriented training and the marginalization of PES within educational policy discourse.

The article argues for a fundamental reconceptualization of PES as a civically fertile pedagogical space. This would require structural reforms in curriculum design, initial and continuing teacher education, and the valorization of PES teachers as agents of democratic socialization. By activating the civic potential embedded in bodily and social learning, PES can move beyond its traditional confines and contribute meaningfully to the formation of active, responsible, and inclusive citizens.