ABSTRACT
Mayotte, a small island located in the Indian Ocean, is one of France's overseas territories. Due to the deterritorialisation of the education system, gradual compulsory schooling can be regarded as one of the major factors reshaping collective identification. Indeed, French language and republican values are spread amongst children and coexist with local languages and representations of identity. This chapter questions the benefits and limits of the contextualisation of the teacher's curriculum, in a context where local languages and culture maintenance is at stake. It shows how an innovative teacher training scheme can provide fruitful outcomes to balance the effects of a top-to-bottom process and how the teaching of children's mother tongues in schools can be a lever for inclusion.
