For several weeks, the president of the Fédération des cégeps, Bernard Tremblay, has been speaking in all forums to give his opinion on the relationship between academic success and the teaching of French at the college level. And the Minister of Higher Education, Danielle McCann, seems to have an ear only for him: the Action Plan for success in higher education 2021-2026, which she presented at the beginning of September, is modeled on the position of the Fédération des cégeps.
This situation is all the more worrying given that Bernard Tremblay claims to speak on behalf of CEGEPs, while the general education teachers’ committees have so far been excluded from government consultation. Remember that these are not represented by the Fédération des cégeps, which has no democratic legitimacy and which does not speak on behalf of all those involved in college education.
The Federation’s analysis is based in part on a comparison of graduation rates between French and English CEGEPs. It is a litany that we know. For several years now, philosophy courses have been compared to so-called equivalent courses in English CEGEPs, which are part of the “Humanities” program. But this comparison does not hold water. These courses are not equivalent, nor are the average results of students in the two networks. […]
Rather than hastily blaming certain general education courses for their lower success rates by quickly qualifying them as “pitfalls”, we should collectively question the real causes of such a gap. What about social and educational inequalities between students who come from the three streams of secondary education (regular public, enriched public and private)? Why do a large number of students entering CEGEP not have the sufficient level in French to succeed in their studies? What drives the best students to migrate to English CEGEP?
The Fédération des cégeps is mistaken when it asserts that the college is not involved in the anglicization of Quebec. Certainly, CEGEPs are not the only cause of the phenomenon, but there is a strong trend currently in the college network: English-speaking colleges have become elite CEGEPs in the pre-university sector and attract a large number of allophones as well. a growing proportion of Francophones, particularly in advantaged communities. There then occurs an erosion of French in higher education in Quebec and a “skimming” of the French CEGEP.
We recently learned that a working group had been set up by the Ministry of Higher Education to produce a report on proficiency in French at the college level. However, the working group is made up of three experts who do not teach in CEGEPs and who would not have the mandate to consult the general education advisory committee, which notably brings together representatives of philosophy teachers and teachers. of literature, which we deplore.
College philosophy teachers care about student success; they are open to participating in a common reflection on language requirements and the success of college philosophy courses. They would still have to be invited to a consultation, the conclusions of which are not drawn in advance by the Fédération des cégeps and that their representatives have sufficient resources to actively participate.
* This letter is co-signed by:
Simon Blouin, Cégep de Granby
Pierre-Olivier Bois, Montmorency College
Isabelle Bouchard, Cégep de Trois-Rivières
Félix Brunetta, Cégep régional de Lanaudière
Alexandre Comeau, Cégep de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
Tony Patoine, Cégep du Vieux Montréal
Vicki Plourde, Cegep Garneau
Patrice Létourneau, Cégep de Trois-Rivières
Richard Vaillancourt, College of Bois-de-Boulogne
Marc-André Vaudreuil, Cégep Gérald-Godin
For the committee of college philosophy teachers