ABSTRACT
Since the end of the French protectorate (1912–1956), Arabic, Islam and the monarchy have been the main political pillars of the nation-building process of independent Morocco. With the gradual Arabisation of the state education system, Arabic has become the main language of literacy instruction although its status has remained challenged by the omnipresence of French, the ex-colonial language, in higher education, and for qualified positions in the national job market. This chapter shows how Arabic language official curricula and teaching practices in classrooms participate in constructing and spreading the state's national narrative and seek to develop among pupils a unified sense of national and religious belonging so that they become pious and obedient citizens. It first gives an overview of primary school Arabic language official curricula and textbooks. It then draws on extensive ethnographic research conducted in nine Moroccan state schools in urban, rural, and mountainous areas through participant observations in language classes, playgrounds, and teachers' rooms and interviews with teachers as well as with headteachers, inspectors, officials from the Ministry of Education and local education administrations.
