“The teacher today is robbed of his time and his judgment. » This sentence from Mathieu Bernière, taken from his History assignment entitled “The dispossession of the teacher”, published on October 28, sums up my painful feelings in the face of the incredible reality of the ordinary class within the framework of the public education system. education in Quebec.
As a secondary school teacher, with 18 years of teaching experience in Quebec, and as a stepmother of a child in the sixth year of primary school, I understand from two complementary angles the silent disasters triggered by the imperative for the success of the greatest number of students at the lowest possible cost.
Twelve years is the magic number that allows a primary school student to be enrolled in a public secondary school, whether or not they have acquired the skills necessary to cope with the new learning required by the school programs of the new education cycle . We will allow the primary school student, who had the misfortune of being 12 years old before passing his sixth year, to join an ordinary class of 1D secondary.
At present, there are therefore several students in ordinary classes who did not obtain a passing grade in French and mathematics in sixth grade (not to mention those who failed just in French, just in mathematics, or who didn’t make their 6 at alle year). So imagine a child who repeated grade 3e and who finally got his act together in 5eor another child who failed both in French and in mathematics in 6e. Imagine subsequently the anxiety of these same children in the face of growing demands while delays accumulate and prove impossible to catch up for one in two students educated in these particular conditions.
We must not forget that the difficulty codes (designed not only to support students in difficulty, but also to recognize their real overload within groups) are increasingly being erased to make way for the intervention plan. (not recognizing any weighting factor for these students in difficulty), which especially French and mathematics teachers must take into account.
For example, we no longer grant code 10 — learning difficulty — to students who are at least two school years behind their legal age and we do not grant a code to a child ADHD diagnosed until it is proven that his attention deficit disorder affects his academic learning in the long term.
Lately, I often find myself in the classroom in front of these very weak students who are pushed against their will in high school with the feeling that I cannot do much for them. And this observation hurts me as a human being. However, we must add to this evil my discomfort as a teacher in front of the few students who like learning and who like school, those who have to “wait” in the class because most of the time, the teachers have no not enough energy to take care of them.
These are the two faces of the educational catastrophe that is now occurring in most public secondary schools in Quebec.
Half of the good students are tired of doing well without being really noticed and rewarded by their teachers; These children, who therefore feel betrayed by their public school, stop doing additional exercises, then all their homework and, one thing leading to another, lose their chance for a better tomorrow.
Meanwhile, half of the weak students give up in the face of the difficulties associated with catching up on their academic deficits and remain convinced that they are not intelligent enough to succeed in school.
A social injustice
As a teacher, I believed in equal opportunities for many years. So I wanted to show my students that they can succeed, that they have everything they need to get there. I was proud to be this teacher who believes in her students, who understands them, who helps them on their journey. However, since the success of the greatest number of students at a lower cost has dominated the public education sector in Quebec, I finally realize that school is more about social injustice, an observation which leaves a lot of room to the shame of being a straw teacher.
But will there be valid solutions to escape this educational labyrinth?
Yes, if legislators and managers in the education sector define minimum competency criteria for access to a higher class, while understanding that both multiple failures and academic successes call for solutions adapted to the different needs of students and that this imposes additional costs.
We are talking here about supplementary classes comprising fewer students – 18 to 20 – for those who have learning difficulties no longer falling under the new code 10, the establishment of qualifying professional training courses staggered over 3 to 4 years for students who, from the age of 12, could discover a rewarding profession, elite classes in all public schools for students with good learning potential — 75% average and more —, a greater number of special vocation classes — language and literature, music, artistic vocation, sciences, sport — in order to give students the opportunity to succeed in their schooling while integrating their specific passions and interests, the limitation of gap in academic level within the same group, the limitation of the responsibility of peer helpers in the learning of very weak students.
Yes, if society stops pointing the finger at teachers who are not up to their task and who remain the only ones blamed for the academic delay of students in difficulty. Following the example of the consumerist maxim “the customer is always right”, our Quebec education system sees itself increasingly dependent on the customer-parent who is always right.
We all think we know the responsibilities of teachers, but what exactly are the responsibilities of parents? Moreover, how should we adapt the role of the teacher in relation to the social environment in which he works? From these questions, there is only one step left to take to grant each secondary school teacher in a disadvantaged environment recognized time in their task in order to be responsible for a given group, to better know the students of this group and to better guide them in their educational journey.
So, the day you see in front of your local public school hundreds of parents and children spread out over a kilometer of sidewalk (as is the case of those who hope each year to be admitted by competitive examination in 1D secondary school in Brébeuf), you will know that the public education system is on the right track. If this possibility makes you smile, seriously ask yourself why.