For most of the nineteenth century, as chapter 6 illustrated, schooling was neither available to, nor considered necessary by, all families in Lavialle. The school was not a given, with which one had to develop means to interact, as it came to be in the twentieth century, but, rather, a new social form that only gradually came to have meaning and value (either positive or negative). Lavialle families interacted in diverse ways with the social form of the school after it had become established during the first half of the twentieth century.

There were no dramatic transformations of the local population in Lavialle from the late nineteenth century until the years following World War II. Until the mid-1960s, farming remained unmechanized for the most part, and farmers in Lavialle continued to rely on a mixed economy of cereals, cows, and cheese production, with some sheep farming. The switch to a specialization in dairy farming was not accomplished until the late 1960s and early 1970s. Schooling levels were fairly stable during this period, as well. The national mandate for primary education that was established at the turn of the century remained in place, and educational policy did not change significantly until the 1960s and 1970s.

A closer look at educational disparities and population differences within Lavialle shows, however, that schooling during this period was not free from conflict and was profoundly influenced by the educational strategies of families in different sections of the commune.