The obstacle course of a teacher of Colombian origin to obtain a position in a Quebec school risks ending on a sad note: like dozens of other teachers from elsewhere, Alexander B. Montoya plans to change job. The Canadian Armed Forces rolled out the red carpet for him and offered him an officer position, with a starting salary of $80,000 a year and benefits.
“I have to admit that it makes me think,” says this teacher with many diplomas, who has to make do with small substitute tasks in primary and secondary schools despite the shortage of staff hitting the school network.
The duty recounted last month the innumerable difficulties of Alexander B. Montoya – and other teachers of foreign origin – to carve out a place in a Quebec school. Arrived in Quebec in 2012 with a diploma in mathematics and 10 years of teaching experience, he had to resolve to do small contracts and other tasks that were not at all in his plans. Among other things, he changed diapers in a CHSLD during the first two waves of the pandemic, then he worked in a vaccination and screening clinic for COVID-19 rather than fulfilling his dream of teaching in high school.
After the publication of the report by To have to, the 48-year-old received the usual offers reserved for new teachers: a day here, a day there. At the bottom of the pay scale. No job security. Without benefits. Without a stable schedule. Without access to the school’s technological equipment, because he is only a substitute…
Alexander B. Montoya eventually ended up in a high school on the South Shore. A wonderful atmosphere. Golden colleagues. But he quickly understood why he replaces a teacher on sick leave: of the 24 young people in his group, 13 have an intervention plan for learning difficulties. In this group among the most “difficult” of the school – and only for an indefinite period -, his ideal of being able to transmit his passion for mathematics is put to the test.
This solid man, in great shape, is tempted to accept the offer of the Canadian Armed Forces, which are ready to hire him and train him with a view to offering him an officer position. Like the education network, the army faces a shortage of personnel, but the working conditions are apparently more attractive at National Defense than in a school.
“Systemic Racism”
Alexander B. Montoya is not the only teacher of foreign origin who is struggling to find his way into Quebec schools: newcomers and people from visible minorities who seek to work in the school network come up against a form of “systemic racism”, says Julie Larochelle-Audet, professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Montreal.
The integration of immigrant teachers “is certainly an example of systemic discrimination or systemic racism”. “They have difficulty getting recognition of their qualifications and experience acquired abroad, and subsequently obtaining tenure,” she told the To have to. I think another manifestation of systemic racism is the state’s lack of action on this. It has been known and documented for several years. »
The entry requirements for teachers of foreign origin may not have been designed with racist intent, but the facts are stubborn: immigrants do have to overcome more hurdles than native-born aspirants. in Quebec, explains Julie Larochelle-Audet.
There is only one access route to the teaching profession for candidates from other countries, regardless of their experience or qualifications, lament the professor and her colleague Marie-Odile Magnan, also from the University. of Montreal, in a letter published on the digital platforms of the To have to. In the midst of a shortage of school personnel, Quebec is thus depriving itself of experienced teachers who can provide an invaluable helping hand.
Even a teacher who has worked for 20 years abroad must first try to have his achievements recognized by the Ministry of Education, then must take a series of university courses in pedagogy and successfully complete a probationary period in a Quebec school. The internships of students in the bachelor of education are framed and supervised, but not those of foreign candidates, underlines Julie Larochelle-Audet.
Barriers to overcome
Another major obstacle, the professional integration of foreign teachers is done most of the time “in precarious conditions, part-time, in several schools, outside their field of qualification and with difficult groups”. The allocation of teaching tasks in the public network is done by order of seniority: the latest arrivals therefore inherit the most difficult groups.
“Although the Ministry of Education does not keep data on people who drop out during the requalification process, the stories and experiences collected in our research indicate that many immigrant teachers fail to overcome the barriers associated with to the recognition of their achievements and skills, particularly linguistic ones”, write Julie Larochelle-Audet and Marie-Odile Magnan in their letter to the To have to.
In general, “within the limits of my corpus, the fact of being or of being perceived as being an immigrant, Arab/Muslim or Black appears more prejudicial” for working in the Quebec school network, writes also Professor Larochelle-Audet in her doctoral thesis, published in 2019.
“In school boards where they are not under-represented, this shows that ‘visible minority’ teachers are likely to be over-represented in jobs with precarious (non-regular) status”, specifies her in the document.