“It’s intimidating the first time you’re in front of the class,” says Sarah Normandin-Malette, who has no university education. It was while homeschooling her two children during the pandemic that she got “the teaching bug.”
In November 2023, she joined the more than 7,000 non-legally qualified teachers working in the Quebec school network at that time, according to data provided by the Ministry of Education..
His story is not, however, ordinary, just like those of the two other non-legally qualified teachers who agreed to share with us their first steps in education.
Unique routes
The three teachers met by The Press all said they enjoyed their experience, even though it had its share of challenges.
“Working with children is nothing but happiness,” sums up Julien Gariépy, 25, who studied business management at Cégep Limoilou.
And he speaks with experience, having worked eight summers as a day camp counselor, before starting to teach English in September 2023 in three elementary schools in the Capitale school service center.
Sarah Normandin-Malette, 34, worked for 15 years in health and safety in a transportation company before being hired as an English teacher at the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes elementary school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
She recently began a university certificate in teaching, alongside her job.
Charles Bégin, 27, holds a bachelor’s degree in law and was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 2020. He landed his first teaching contract in September 2021 at the Écrivains elementary school in Quebec City, after a short-lived two-month career as a lawyer.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHARLES BÉGIN
Charles Begin
[En] right, I was unhappy […] it really wasn’t for me.
Charles Begin
After that first month-and-a-half contract, he never looked back. Since then, he has been teaching three to five days a week in elementary and secondary schools in his region, Côte-de-Beaupré near Quebec City, while he completes a bachelor’s degree in elementary education that he began last fall.
The beginnings
All three claim to have received teaching materials on the first day, to which they subsequently added their own personal touch.
” [J’ai fait] “Some more fun activities, not just sitting with a pencil and paper, but without what I was given, I wouldn’t have been able to create this,” explains Julien Gariépy.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHE, THE PRESS
Julien Gariepy
Julien Gariépy was also surprised by the collaboration offered by his colleagues. Same story from Sarah Normandin-Malette, who assures us that she had “golden colleagues”.
A totally different experience from what he had experienced the previous year, during his first teaching contract, as a French teacher in reception classes at the English Montreal School Board.
“I was completely left to my own devices, it was almost scary,” he says.
Teaching has its challenges, especially without the necessary academic background. “There’s no such thing as a university course for nothing,” confirms Mr. Gariépy.
“There are so many things we’re asked to do,” adds Sarah Normandin-Malette. “It’s not just an adult, it’s a job.”
“The classroom management part is the hardest part,” Charles Bégin concedes. Sometimes, classes can become “real chaos.”
According to Mme Normandin-Malette, the most important challenge for a non-legally qualified teacher concerns the planning of teaching materials: knowing what to teach, in what order and in what manner.
“You don’t just have to watch movies and speak English, you have to [les élèves] learn things,” she illustrates.
Special challenges
Mr. Gariépy and Mr. Bégin both taught groups of students with autism spectrum disorders. “I loved it, loved it,” recalls Charles Bégin.
However, it was undoubtedly Julien Gariépy’s “most difficult” experience. It was at this moment that he felt the limits of his abilities. “I really had trouble offering them a teaching that was appropriate for them.”
All three agree: teaching can be challenging. For example, some students are experiencing very difficult situations at home. Something none of them were really prepared for.
“I thought I had seen some not so bad ones in law, but there are some not so bad ones at school too,” jokes Charles Bégin.
According to Mme Normandin-Malette, the important thing is to try to help them, no matter how. “It can just be good humor or a hug,” she says.
Their experience was overall positive and everyone intends to continue it at the next school year.
“I want to do this until the end of my life,” exclaims Charles Bégin.
What was the most memorable moment of their year? “When I realized that the students had really learned something,” Julien Gariépy answers without hesitation.