Excerpt from Reflections of a School Principal | Take an interest first and foremost in students

To counter the serious problem of dropping out of school, which affects boys more than girls, David Bowles draws inspiration from the builders of the Quiet Revolution and makes 55 recommendations for academic success.

As the COVID-19 crisis progressed, I was increasingly concerned about its repercussions on the academic motivation of young Quebecers and, consequently, on school perseverance. The relationship of trust that is built between the teacher and the students became very difficult to build and maintain with the closure of schools and the establishment of distance education. This led me to take a step back to reflect on my own educational values ​​and what allowed me, as an educator, to be successful with my students, to keep them motivated and interested in their learning. However, from the start of my career, I was able to notice the capital importance of the privileged relationship between the teacher and his students to ensure academic success and perseverance.

As is the case with many new teachers, my beginnings in the profession were difficult. Preparing and giving lessons, day after day, to groups of 30 adolescents of 3^e high school while making sure they listened to what I was teaching them was certainly stressful. However, what I found really difficult was realizing that the students, quite frankly, seemed to be royally bored. I could see that they were learning the material quite well, but they were bored and therefore I was bored too. Something had to change.

So I made a simple decision that totally changed the game for me and my students for the rest of the school year and, quite frankly, for the rest of my career: to be interested first and foremost. to my students, to the individuals in front of me, with their unique interests, passions and personalities. This interest had to take precedence over the matter itself. It was as easy as starting my lessons by asking my students what they had done the day before, how their soccer game went, if they had listened to the Canadiens game, who was their favorite participant in the game. such or such reality TV, what activity they had done with their family or their friends… I then used this material in the content of my classes to create examples that I incorporated in texts and jokes. I took every opportunity to attend their sports competitions and artistic performances, and to accompany them on school trips and student trips.

I got to know them and they started to trust me and ask for my advice.

I noticed after some time that sometimes, even often, they calmed down in class when I asked them and that they did it… to please me. They enthusiastically participated in the activities I had prepared for them, they were (almost) no longer bored, and when they realized that I had worked hard to create an original activity for them… they thanked me. From then on, the teaching profession became the most rewarding in the world for me because I felt… useful.

Obviously, several elements ensure that a teacher manages to support his students towards success: a passion for his subject, good classroom management, teaching strategies adapted to the different students in the class, etc. However, I am convinced that one of the main keys to the success of a good teacher, in relation to the success of his students and his own motivation, is to be interested first in the human beings who are in front of him all. days.

Twenty years later, I think it is time, as a society, to apply this way of doing things to the students who currently attend the Quebec school system as a whole. We need to look to them and make their success a top priority. I am convinced that, contrary to what some might say, our students are very good. In fact, international tests show us that our students are among the best in the world. However, too many of them drop out, which has extremely serious consequences for our collective future. Quebec has the highest dropout rate in Canada and one of the highest in the West.

In this way out of the crisis, we must begin a historic revival of the education system on a scale comparable to that experienced by Quebec during the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. To succeed, we must turn once again to our school system by focusing first and foremost on students and school personnel. We must collectively apply our creativity, our know-how and our sense of innovation to tackle the problem of early school leaving together, and we must do it now.

Thoughts from a school principal – To inject a dose of school perseverance in Quebec

David Bowles

Château Ink editions, September 2021

150 pages