Are the gains obtained by teachers during negotiations with the government as disappointing as they say? Could some help improve the lot of young people on the ground? While several unions have rejected the offer on Thursday, The newspaper interviewed stakeholders in order to popularize the content of the agreement in principle of the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE). Their verdict: all that for that? “It’s not going to revolutionize student services,” notes Sylvain Martel of the Regroupement des committees de parents nationaux du Québec (RCPAQ).
1) Classroom help that only concerns toddlers
Quebec wants to add 4,000 helpers in primary and kindergarten classes for 10 to 15 hours per week from 2024-2025. This idea was already the subject of a very popular pilot project in the field. Educators come to help students who are still learning to be independent: organize their desk, get out the right notebook, get dressed for recess.
The government has made it a flagship measure, but it only concerns small children. Also, when we bring the figures down to the scale of the approximately 2,000 primary schools in the province, we realize that not all classes will be entitled to it. “There are things that are likely to be good for students… for those who will benefit from them,” quips Geneviève Sirois, professor in the education department at TÉLUQ.
2) Difficulty thresholds too high
The issue that is causing the most discontent these days is the composition of the ordinary class. Too often, it includes a disproportionate proportion of students who are challenged, who have an intervention plan or who do not yet master French.
When the cohort of a level includes too large a proportion of difficulties, the agreement provides that a mechanism is triggered to open new classes and add resources. At the FAE, the threshold is set at 60% at primary level and 50% at secondary level.
This threshold should have been 25% to 30%, estimates Mélanie Paré, professor in the department of educational psychology at the University of Montreal. In addition, when adding resources or opening classes is impossible, the FAE agreement provides for the payment of a bonus of $4,000 or $8,000 to teachers.
For several speakers, this amounts to writing in black and white that we are resigned to not meeting the needs of all students. We can also expect that this clause will lead to a multiplication of intervention plans.
- Listen to Richard Martineau’s commentary with Jean-François Guérin via QUB :
3) Where are the professionals?
But where are the remedial teachers, speech therapists, psychoeducators, psychologists and other professionals who could come and support teachers and help young people progress? There is no mention of it in the FAE agreement.
“I wonder if it’s really in a collective agreement that we should talk about it […] Support services for teachers are underdeveloped in Quebec,” notes Mélanie Paré. For example, we could add the presence of resource teachers at certain times in class to enrich the teaching.
“I don’t see many organizational changes,” also notes Sylvain Martel, spokesperson for the RCPAQ.
4) Fears around specialized classes
Let’s assume that a cohort exceeds the famous thresholds of 50% or 60% and leads to the opening of new classes. Will these new groups form a regular class or a specialized class? The agreement does not specify this.
Often, bringing together students who have all kinds of difficulties in a specialized class gives “the illusion” that we will be able to help them better, but research has shown that this often does not meet the real needs of young people, explains Mélanie Paré .
In addition, some parents who live in the region fear that these classes will become a bit of a catch-all, with the students being too far apart to create real “hubs” bringing together those who share the same disorder, also notes Sylvain Martel of the RCPAQ.
1) Better evaluate young people in francization
Dominic Pelletier is a teacher in primary reception classes in Montreal, that is to say in francization. He noted that the FAE agreement contains a real gain for him and his students. A mandatory protocol will be put in place by school service centers to welcome these young people and assess their level in mathematics. Because there is a big difference between the way of teaching a child who has developed all the skills in his language and a young refugee who has never been to school in his life due to the war, for example .
2) End of monitoring for teachers
The FAE agreement provides that from 2027-2028, recess supervision will no longer be part of the teachers’ task, if the availability of manpower allows it. We can assume that this role will be assumed by educators or supervisors.
“Remove surveillance [de l’horaire des profs], it’s urgent,” says Mélanie Paré. This saved time can be used to follow up with students, to plan, to correct, to speak to parents, to consult with colleagues to better help a young person, for example.
3) Valued teachers, rewarding teachers?
The agreement provides for salary increases for teachers as well as the addition of contracts leading to tenure. Could it be that indirectly, these better salaries and greater stability benefit students?
This can help attract more people to the profession, but not necessarily retain teachers who are already in place, analyzes Geneviève Sirois. “A salary increase matters. But it doesn’t have a very big impact on long-term motivation.” This is also what many dissatisfied teachers have repeated in recent days: it is not the salary, the problem.
4) Better communication
One of the clauses of the agreement deals with the transfer of information between the departments and “third party organizations”. We can read between the lines that this would allow better communication between schools and CPEs, health system specialists or private sector experts.
“The school is often closed in on itself” and this clause suggests an openness, indicates Gérald Boutin, professor in the education department at UQAM.
The agreement in principle is far from having been ratified by the FAE since its local unions are still in the voting process. The application of the clauses discussed above is therefore hypothetical.
