“Reforms should not be reformed every five minutes”estimated Monday, November 14 on franceinfo the director of Sciences Po Lille, Pierre Mathiot, inspiration of the new baccalaureate who had submitted his report on the reform of the baccalaureate in January 2018. Finally, the successor of Jean-Michel Blanquer at National Education, Pap Ndiaye, announced Sunday, November 13 the return of compulsory mathematics in first.
>> High school: three questions about the return of mathematics to the common core in first?
“This is what I call ‘maths for all'”, specifies Pierre Mathiot. If he considers that the reform “allow” good pupils in mathematics to go very far in their learning of sciences, he recognizes that“there are not enough of them”. “I have the weakness to think that things are decided as soon as children enter kindergarten.”
franceinfo: Did the baccalaureate reform, whose mission you led, therefore not sufficiently meet expectations since there is a step backwards?
Pierre Mathiot: The question that arises here is that of mathematics for pupils who do not have a very strong appetite for scientific subjects and who, in fact, in the implementation of the reform, had the possibility of stopping follow mathematics from the end of the second class. There, what is decided is to ask them to follow an hour and a half of mathematics in first class. Not high-level mathematics for young people who would then study science and then go to work in science. This is what I call “maths for all”. That is what the minister’s announcements are about.
Is it mission impossible to succeed both in enabling good math students to go very far, but also in giving a mathematical culture to everyone?
For those who like mathematics, I think the reform allows it. The programs are demanding and the number of hours is substantial. However, there are two problems for the good at math. To sum up, they are not numerous enough and above all there are not enough girls. On this, there are things that are being prepared and that the minister will probably announce very quickly. On the other hand, for those who don’t like mathematics, there is indeed another issue. It is necessary that the pupils master a mathematical culture, calculating, at the end of the high school.
>> Weight of stereotypes, self-censorship, backsliding… How the high school reform widened the disparities between girls and boys in science education
Does the problem with math occur at an early age?
I actually have the weakness to think that for mathematics, but also for other disciplines, things are played out as soon as children enter kindergarten. For quite a few years in France, mathematics has become the alpha and omega of student classification. Studies show that from the start of primary school, some children, and in particular girls, are wary of mathematics. It refers to the fact that the school teachers have followed a rather literary training. There is also an issue, probably on teaching methods. We have long been focused on training the best. We have to take things back, it takes time. We must also allow time for the reform to unfold, time to have effects. Reforms should not be reformed every five minutes.