Social Justice Issues in Education: An Examination of François Bégaudeau's 'Entre les Murs' Anonymous College

The film ‘Entre Les Murs’(English Translation: “the class”) is a poignant visualization of social justice issues evident in education. Based on the novel by François Bégaudeau, the film tells the story of a young, white, male, French teacher (François Marin) who has been entrusted with a multicultural class with students of varying cultural, national and intellectual backgrounds. The school itself is situated in a working class, residential district on the outskirts of Paris and is not one to be new to ‘difficult’ students. The storyline introduces conflict between teacher-student relationships, the school curriculum and the student’s cultural capital and illustrates a number of social justice issues. Conflict within the class setting brings about the idea that actions different from the dominant norm of the institution’s hidden curriculum are considered subversive, disruptive and unvalued while the failure to recognize the cultural capital of students results in their oppression and permanent exclusion from the school setting. Poor teacher-student relationships also prevent student agency and power while a ridged curriculum helps to cement students’ disengagement during class. The events and situations within the film’s...