Mr Prime Minister,
You have children, like most of us, signing this open letter. On all platforms, you state loud and clear that education is your priority. This is also true for us.
Both as citizens and as education experts, we only want one thing from the school system: that it supports the pleasure of learning of all children in order to allow them to develop the skills necessary to fully flourish and contribute positively to society.
Mr Prime Minister, is this aim shared between us?
We hope that the answer to this question is positive, and that is why we are convinced that your Minister of Education is on the wrong track in proposing to reduce initial teacher training. In an increasingly complex context, relying on shortcuts to counter the shortage of teachers will only lead to individual and collective dead ends. Maintaining a reductive approach to this training contributes to demobilizing people who are highly committed to educational environments and to devaluing a profession which nevertheless really needs to be valued.
We must rethink the relationship between initial training and professional integration in teaching as a continuum in order to promote gradual entry into the profession, a critical period for the retention of teaching staff, their well-being and, as a corollary, that of teachers. children we entrust to him. This transition period requires continuous support, carried out in close collaboration between university and school environments, and favorable working conditions.
Since the Parent report, teacher training in Quebec is in constant transformation and improvement, because researchers in educational sciences carry out research on, with, in and for the school environment. This training has also become greatly more complex since the turn of the 2000s, when you were Minister of Education.
The needs of our children have increased tenfold, and the pandemic has undermined many fundamental learning skills among the most vulnerable among them. Supporting them in their educational journey will require high-level professional skills from everyone. It is certainly not by training fewer teachers, and for less time, that advances in educational research can be transferred to classrooms for the benefit of young people.
That said, can we do better? Certainly, and this is what all our teams are continually working towards with audacity, commitment and humanity.
But can we do less? The answer is clear: no.
To counter the current shortage of teachers, to promote the attractiveness of the teaching profession and the retention of staff throughout their careers, you have recently committed to removing all the stones encountered on this path. Before lifting disparate stones one by one, we invite you to have an overview of the journey to be taken, by identifying the real problems of the school system through the most open and democratic consultation possible.
For our children, and the future of our nation to build together.
* Also signed this letter:
Adolphe Adihou, full professor, Department of Studies on Academic and Social Adaptation; Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet, associate professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Chantale Beaucher, full professor, Department of Pedagogy; Sylvie Beaudoin, full professor, Faculty of Physical Activity Sciences; Marie-Ève Bédard, educational advisor for internships, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Christiane Blaser, full professor, Department of Pedagogy; Geneviève Bourassa, academic coordinator, Department of Pedagogy; Geneviève Brisson, associate professor, Department of Pedagogy; Guylaine Charron, educational advisor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Jean-François Desbiens, vice-dean for training, Faculty of Physical Activity Sciences; Pierre-Alain Filippi, assistant professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Claudia Gagnon, full professor, Department of Pedagogy; François Larose, full professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Angélique Laurent, associate professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Martin Lépine, vice-dean for training and culture, Faculty of Education; Judith Marcil-Levert, educational advisor, management of the Faculty of Education; Vincent Martin, associate professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Sylvain Manseau, educational advisor, Department of Pedagogy; Florian Meyer, associate professor, Department of Pedagogy; Sabrina Moisan, associate professor, Department of Pedagogy; Daniel Moreau, associate professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Maia Morel, associate professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Marie-France Nadeau, full professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Sandy Nadeau, assistant professor, Department of Preschool and Elementary Education; Marie-France Noël, educational advisor, management of the Faculty of Education; Matthieu Petit, associate professor, Department of Pedagogy; Christophe Point, assistant professor, Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Martin Roy, full professor, Faculty of Physical Activity Sciences; Saïdou Segueda, assistant professor, Department of Pedagogy; Hassane Squalli, full professor and director of the Department of Pedagogy; Laurent Theis, full professor and director of the Department of Preschool and Primary Education; François Vandercleyen, associate professor, Faculty of Physical Activity Sciences; Myriam Villeneuve-Lapointe, assistant professor, Department of Preschool and Elementary Education.