The National Institute for Excellence in Education (INEE) announced by Minister Bernard Drainville would be responsible for promoting excellence in educational services in preschool, primary and secondary education. Promoting excellence in Quebec schools is commendable. It is important to define the criteria for evaluating it, to clarify the expected manifestations in the very particular context of the shortage of teachers. It is above all necessary to be honest about the ways of judging this excellence.
Does excellence in services address the conditions to be put in place in the milieus to promote consultation between the partners and joint reflection on teaching practices, taking into account the specificities of the disciplines whose research progress themselves as our society changes?
The whole of what constitutes the school seems to be taken together, whereas there is a major difference between looking for ways to better manage human and material resources and interfering in the pedagogical and didactic choices of the teaching staff. .
What will INEE’s mission really be with regard to these pedagogical and didactic dimensions? Bill 23 mentions that the INEE will be responsible for drawing up and updating a synthesis of the scientific knowledge available on the educational success and well-being of students. This is an ambitious goal, because educational success encompasses both academic success and the overall development of the student.
It is essential to take into consideration the scientific knowledge resulting from various research on success in primary, secondary and adult education, taking into account the different training paths. The organizational models of educational services can be documented, but they must be fed by the results of quantitative and also qualitative research. Each perspective contributes to educational success.
However, there is a risk of favoring certain types of research whose results seem to apply to a wider audience and give the impression of a consensus within the diversity of research in education. When it is mentioned that INEE will establish “best practices”, we question the scope of this work. Are we talking about teaching practices? If so, how will the specificity of the learning and teaching of each discipline be taken into account?
It is all the more important to answer these questions since the following sections of the bill seem to stem from the determination of these “best practices”. Under the lens of mathematics education, the choice of pedagogical formulas and tools (digital, manipulatives, etc.) that mediate class activities should depend on the aims of learning.
Bill 23 deals with the formatting of recommendations, support for the implementation of these recommendations, staff training, the definition of teachers’ professional skills and recognition of the content of the formation continues. These dimensions greatly contribute to the very definition of the school, hence the major impacts of the INEE’s positions on students, teachers, teacher trainers, etc.
We are concerned, not for the didactics of mathematics as a field of research, since the relevance and richness of our work are internationally recognized, but for the Quebec school, which, through this INEE project, runs a strong risk of not not benefit from this wealth.
We perceive the pitfalls of this project, which could become a way of standardizing practices by harming the creative and innovative initiatives of our community of researchers, trainers and teachers of mathematics. Considering the strong impact that the INEE would have on education in Quebec, we ask that in-depth work be carried out first in order to review its mandate in depth, starting, as a matter of urgency, by defining the aims of “excellence” and its operating methods.
* Also signed this text:
Geneviève Barabé, professor, University of Montreal
Mathieu Thibault, professor, UQO
Laurie Bergeron, professor, UQAM
Marie Luquette, lecturer, University of Montreal
Fabienne Venant, professor, UQAM
Sabrina Héroux, lecturer, UQTR and University of Montreal
Izabella Oliveira, professor, Laval University
David Benoit, professor, UQO
Hassane Squalli, Professor, University of Sherbrooke
Jean-François Maheux, professor, UQAM
Laurent Theis, Professor, University of Sherbrooke
Jean-François Gagné, visiting professor, UQAM
Annie Savard, Professor, McGill University
Lacina Dofini, master’s student, UQAC
Mireille Saboya, professor, UQAM
Souleymane Barry, UQAC
Frédéric Prud’homme, secondary education advisor, CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys
Caroline Lajoie, professor, UQAM
Virginie Robert, Professor, Laval University
Marianne Homier, doctoral student, University of Sherbrooke
Marie-Frédérick St-Cyr, doctoral student, UQAM
Analia Bergé, professor, UQAR
Patricia Marchand, University of Sherbrooke
Anik Ste-Marie, professor, UQAM
Martin Roy, Educational Advisor, CSS des Samares
Marilyn Dupuis Brouillette, professor, UQAR
Caroline Damboise, professor, UQAR
Fernando Hitt, professor, UQAM
Patricia Falappa, lecturer, University of Sherbrooke
Elena Polotskaia, professor, UQO
Jeanne Koudogbo, professor, University of Sherbrooke
Marie-Pier Morin, Professor, University of Sherbrooke
Stéfanie Neyron, secondary education advisor, CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys
Anne Roy, professor, UQTR
Sandrine Michot, doctoral student, UQAM
Helena Boublil, professor, Laval University
Nathalie Anwandter Cuellar, professor, UQO
Eva Knoll, professor, UQAM
Jeanne Bilodeau, professor, UQTR
Virginie Houle, professor, UQAM
Caroline Bisson, lecturer, University of Sherbrooke
Miranda Rioux, professor, UQAR
Cynthia Potvin, master’s student, UQAR
Josianne Trudel, lecturer, UQAR
Sophie René de Cotret, honorary professor, University of Montreal
Vincent Martin, Professor, University of Sherbrooke
Virginie Filion, Master’s graduate, UQAR
Thomas Rajotte, professor, UQAR, Lévis campus
Philippe R. Richard, Professor, University of Montreal
Jessica Tremblay-Pelletier, teacher and master’s student, UQAR