Once a month, Le Devoir d’enseignement wants to offer enriching contributions, whether they come from researchers and practitioners in the education sector or from other people who have reflected on the state of our education system.
It’s been almost five years since I made this career change, get involved, they said. Some mornings, I seriously question my choice to have answered the call of the shortage in education, many mornings sadden me and many have pushed me to write — incessantly. Welcome to the big world of primary education.
For a moment, I come back to you, “How do you say, Juliette? Exactly, you won’t have any special education this morning, Mme Rose went on sick leave and there is no one to replace her and we are still waiting for the second remedial teacher since September. No one has taken this job yet, so I don’t think you’ll get your extra help for a while, sweetie. »
But hey, I’ll get used to it!
As I said, as soon as my first days were over, even my first months, I quickly felt challenged by my new daily life which was not at all encouraging. Inhabited, not to say bewitched, by a certain obligation to act for the well-being of our children. But where do you start, in this system that requires a written procedure to change a light bulb? I’m going to have to come back to you again, just a moment please.
“Rajdeep, good news, if you are not in a reception class, you will be entitled to linguistic support, however it will only be 30 minutes per week and in a group of three students. So, use your tools carefully, don’t hesitate if you have any questions and I will write to your parents in order to follow up properly at home. » « My parents don’t speak French. » “Your parents don’t speak French…” But hey, I’ll get used to it!
Outlet
Thank you for your patience. So, I started writing to have a form of outlet, to put on paper the absurdities which affect the path of our children and which should not, from my eye which came from the external and which still does not understand not why there have been about 30 ministers of education in the last 60 years, why a teacher will never have to be evaluated, why there is a gap of about $40,000 between the first and the last level, which would only be reached 16 years later and the famous Voldemort of education, the duty of loyalty.
Ah misery, two short seconds… “Friends, I asked you to be careful when you open the snack provided by the school, you just have to ask me if you have difficulty. » A thousand apologies, it’s not easy for first year kids to open containers of fruit in syrup without getting it everywhere, don’t worry, because Mr. Simon is going to clean up and will cut back on the pedagogy. of time. But hey, I’ll get used to it!
Where was I? Ah yes, a lot of things need to be rethought. Which would lead us to major reflections on fundamental questions such as: is teacher training still adequate? Should the State always have the last word on the education of our little ones? Shouldn’t we find an educational director as well as a school manager in each primary school?
Why not a universal food system for every student? Does the union have a say in the teaching that takes place in class? What is the real role of service centers and their bureaucrats? Should we have a professional order? Do we want the return of several special classes? What is the true professional autonomy of the teacher? What will be the role of the National Institute of Excellence in Education?
Ding! A little while ago, I just received an email from my son’s school. “Dear parents, this message is to inform you that Mme Clara will have to be absent for an indefinite period, please be sure that there will be an adult in the class until the teacher returns…” When it’s not as a teacher, well, it’s as a parent … Hoping to avoid the outcome of last year with my other son’s class, where substitutes followed one another from March to June following a similar email. But hey, I’ll get used to it.
History
“Friends, come and sit in the reading corner, it’s time for our little story. “Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, Quebec society established the Ministry of Education following the recommendations of the Parent report.” Alex, can you please not disturb your friends while I’m talking? Your shoes go on your feet and not on your head. People are looking at me now. “So, since that time, sixty years have passed, bringing with them an incredible lot of changes in everyone’s daily life.” Imagine children, in those days, teachers smoked in classes and the Internet did not exist. » “The teachers were vaping in the school, Mr. Simon? If the Internet didn’t exist, how did they watch YouTube? » Okay, I’ll let it happen finally.
Ding! (sound of incoming email) “Mr. Simon, I doubt my son would display this type of behavior in class, are you sure it’s not someone else disrupting the class during your flat story about our education system? He never does this at home, his shoes are always on the porch. Maybe reviewing how the class works could help him participate more and not be disruptive if what you’re saying is true. Signed: Alex’s parents. » Hey lala! Thank you for your valuable collaboration, dear parents.
Back on topic. Six decades to reach this level of education which does not obtain a passing grade. The actions taken over the last few years will only have had the effect of two Tylenols to combat widespread cancer. There have of course been changes, reforms and above all… screw-ups.
No one can refute these observations when we look at the state of affairs: dilapidated schools, shortage of teachers, the quality of French among our students, and so on. As some say about the 22-day indefinite general strike, we can make the same statement regarding the success of our schools — all that for that.
Parent Commission 2.0
Wait for me, I still have a few corrections to finish this Saturday: “I’m going to eat apples and cheese. » Phew! Difficult to think that French is a priority when the libraries are without a librarian, the school has been relocated for three years and the students do not have access to this place which is so precious for the development of a love of our language and of our culture. But hey, I’ll get used to it!
“Sorry, Logan, I know you’re hungry, but snack service starts in the first days of October and it’s mid-September, are you sure you don’t have a snack and you’re hungry? But hey, you’ll get used to it! »
You know, this is where I draw the line, I am unable to get used to it day after day and let injustice and social inequity take over more space in our schools. This establishment is the very foundation of our democracy and its objective is to reduce the effects of poverty in our society and not to amplify them — as is currently the case with the three-tier school.
Education should be the hope of a better world, I said hope, the wish of a place where every child has a chance of success and that financial and intellectual poverty goes elsewhere.
To do this, we must re-do the puzzle that is education, but where do we start? So ! A Parent 2.0 commission that will redefine the word — school — and everything it surrounds. Obviously the system will not become perfect overnight, it may be long and sometimes painful, but we will have a common goal, which is the education of our children.
With this commission, we will reflect on an ideal of what an education system should be in 2024. Subsequently, all the decisions that will be taken must and must go in the direction of achieving these long-term objectives. Start from the needs of the student and not from union demands, the partisan vision of the State or the alienating bureaucracy which too often jeopardize the student’s learning.
In addition, we must remember that defining what the child needs is not necessarily what he wants. Put a structure in place for his progress and not for him to be the king of the school, impose rigor on him in his learning by giving him chances of success to bring him to true freedom, that of accomplish.
Sorry, I’m going to have to leave you after all this time. “Guys, we’re going to have to get out of class, Taz is having a tantrum this morning and I don’t want anyone to get hurt by getting a chair to the head. The psychoeducator is meeting with the DPJ and the special education technician is absent following a blow received the day before by a sixth grade student. »
Suggestions ? Write to Dave Noël: [email protected].