On May 2, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, reaffirmed that the three-tiered school does not exist in Quebec. However, decades of quantitative and qualitative research have shed light on this phenomenon in Quebec and elsewhere in the world. This research showed that the three-speed school exists and contributes to exacerbating inequalities between students. As we know, in Quebec, students attending regular classes in secondary school have only a 15% chance of going to university, compared to 51% for students attending enriched classes and 60% for students attending secondary schools. private, according to a study by Professor Pierre Canisius Kamanzi. These inequalities are the effect of the practices of selection and early separation of students from the start of the first year of secondary school, practices that have intensified from decade to decade since the 1980s.
At the same time, through Bill 23, the Minister announces the creation of the National Institute for Excellence in Education (INEE), in which so-called “convincing” research in education will be compiled to promote the effectiveness of continuing education, even initial, teachers. However, if he wishes to consider “proven” research in education, what does he do with all the research that has shown, with supporting figures, in particular with databases provided by the Ministry of Education, that three-speed school is unequal and that it contributes to reinforcing inequalities between social groups in Quebec?
As university researchers, we share the desire to rely on research to inform decisions and teaching in order to ensure the educational success of all. However, we are extremely concerned that the INEE, an institute which will be heavily controlled by the Minister of Education, will highlight only certain “viewpoints” of research, while ignoring other n not going hand in hand with the aims of the political party in power. To avoid any reductive reading of research and any decisional drift that may result, this institute, if its creation is confirmed, should reflect a diversity of critical research results, just as the Higher Council for Education has done so well. in the last decades. It should also give a prominent place to academics, the main architects of research in education. However, in Bill 23, it is provided that only one member of the university community can sit on it. In order to properly inform decisions about teacher education, the members of the Board of Directors of this institute should retain intellectual autonomy and be diverse in terms of research views and positionality. In this sense, this committee should include, in particular, women, people from the First Peoples, communities of black, immigrant, racialized and LGBTQ2+ people, etc.
More than ever, we must return to the foundations of the Parent reform, to the democratization of access to education and to equal treatment and results for all students in Quebec. As researchers, we are asking to review the mission, operation and constitution of this institute so that Quebec can say that it will have done everything to respect the right to education of all its children and to counter educational injustices. generated by the operation of our three-tier education system. Faculties and departments of education sciences, which work hard to inform policies, practices and training through research conducted with and for schools, must be recognized for their expertise and must be able to continue to exercise their work independently.
*Also co-signed this text:
Marc-André Éthier, National Director of the Center for Interuniversity Research on Training and the Teaching Profession (CRIFPE), Full Professor, University of Montreal
Anderson Araújo-Oliveira, Director of CRIFPE-University of Quebec, Professor, University of Quebec in Montreal
Sawsen Lakhal, Director of CRIFPE- Université de Sherbrooke (CRIFPE-UdeS), Associate Professor, Department of Pedagogy.
Simon Collin, researcher at CRIFPE, professor, Faculty of Education, University of Quebec in Montreal
David Lefrançois, Researcher at CRIFPE, Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Quebec in Outaouais
Mylène Leroux, researcher at CRIFPE, professor, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Quebec in Outaouais
Rola Koubeissy, researcher at CRIFPE, assistant professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Geneviève Sirois, researcher at CRIFPE, professor, TELUQ University
Sivane Hirsch, Full Professor, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières
Corina Borri-Anadon, Full Professor, Department of Educational Sciences University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières
Andréanne Gélinas-Proulx, Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Quebec in Outaouais
Fasal Kanouté, Full Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Josée Charette, Professor, University of Quebec in Montreal
Emmanuelle Doré, researcher at CRIFPE, professor, Department of Education and Training Management, Université de Sherbrooke
Julie Larochelle-Audet, professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Françoise Armand, Full Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Mélanie Paré, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Nathalie Trépanier, Full Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Marie-Josée Goulet, Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Quebec in Outaouais
Suzanne Guillemette, Researcher at CRIFPE, Full Professor, Department of Education and Training Management, Faculty of Education, Université de Sherbrooke
Geneviève Audet, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Quebec in Montreal
Catherine Maynard, Assistant Professor, Department of Languages, Linguistics and Translation, Université Laval
Canisius Kamanzi, Professor, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Montreal
Martial Dembélé, full professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Catherine Gosselin-Lavoie, Assistant Professor, Department of Didactics, University of Montreal
Adriana Morales-Perlaza, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Nancy Goyette, Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières
Emmanuel Poirel Professor, Department of Administration and Foundations of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Montreal
Gina Lafortune, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Quebec in Montreal
Charles-Antoine Bachand, Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Quebec in Outaouais