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Dominant in French preschools for decades, the “atelier” system has recently faced competition from “Montessorian activities”. For some teachers, these activities would allow them to make better provision for the diversity of their pupils. We compared these two types of strategies by specifically observing the activities and learning of weaker pupils, most of whom come from working-class backgrounds. Despite their differences, it is not uncommon for both of these strategies to involve considerable pupil autonomy, even though there is a big difference between this postulated autonomy and real “autonomy”, particularly where the weakest pupils are concerned. We endeavour to ascertain how and why there is a lack of teacher support for these pupils, while also being mindful of certain variations which could potentially be of more benefit to those who are less well provided for in school due to their background. This article therefore links pedagogy and sociology (sociology of socio-educational inequalities and sociology of socialisation), and also rekindles the question of whether alternative pedagogies have a differentiating effect or not.