Not taken into account in Parcoursup, these last exams are organized when the students already know 82% of their baccalaureate mark, a consequence of a new contested calendar. Already fixed on their fate, some high school students struggle to motivate themselves.
“Do you have to diligently revise a difficult subject if its grade is of little importance?” No, this is not the subject of the baccalaureate philosophy test on which the general or technological terminal students will work, Wednesday June 14. But this is the question that necessarily torments some high school students before this deadline and that of the great oral, the only other baccalaureate test scheduled during the month (between the 19th and the 30th). For the first time this year, they took the two specialty tests in March, the results of which were posted online in April. If we add the continuous assessment, 82% of the points counting for the examination have already been awarded. For many candidates, the baccalaureate is already in their pocket. And in some classrooms, this was seen as early as March.
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“It is much more complicated to motivate students for the June exams”observed in April Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the first union of secondary school teachers. “We sometimes teach half of the class”assured this professor of economics and social sciences (SES), one of the specialties evaluated in writing in March, but in which the graduates can draw their subject of great oral. “The students who are in class are no longer as involved”also noted Jérôme Fournier, national secretary SE-Unsa, another union.
“My future is already mapped out”
Since the announcement of the first results, “they come as tourists, worries Marie Perret. They want to debate, but are no longer in the mood to work.” This philosophy teacher asked her students about the reasons for this relaxation: “One of them said to me: ‘Madam, it’s as if I had run a marathon and that I was asked, once the line was crossed, to run again.’
“We feel a big drop in motivation”, “I put in as little effort as possible”, “It feels good to release the pressure”, recognize without difficulty dozens of high school students who responded to the call for testimonials from franceinfo. A feeling that is all the stronger since, simultaneously with the specialty tests counting for a third of the baccalaureate, they completed their application files for higher education training on Parcoursup in early March, to which the specialty results were added. “My future is already mapped out”summarizes Sheïna, one of these graduates.
“Parents have the impression that, for their children, there is only Parcoursup, and they no longer know how to motivate them to go to class.”
Ghislaine Morvan Dubois, treasurer of the FCPE parents’ federationat franceinfo
There are no statistics to estimate the share of students guaranteed to have their baccalaureate before June. But “a majority of them know where she is”assures Jérôme Fournier. “I did the math and working hard wouldn’t even earn me one more point. What’s the point?”asks Jason.
For others, the last trials will be decisive, but the specialty marks have given them a knock on the head. “If they had 3/20, some now say that school is no longer made for them”, says David Weimar, English teacher. He is worried about the psychological consequences, for the most fragile, of knowing part of their grades in April.
Philosophy less “profitable” than the great oral
Resulting from the last reform of the baccalaureate, the great oral is still contested by a part of the teaching body, which considers it as “a test favoring form over substance”, summarizes Sophie Vénétitay. While it is organized for the third year, some remain hesitant on the right way to mark the students, despite the existence of an evaluation grid. High school students must prepare two subjects, from their two specialties. In fact, the work on the great oral often only begins after the March writings, for a short time.
“The problem is that the programs for these subjects are not finished”emphasizes Jean-Rémi Girard, President of the National Syndicate of High Schools and Colleges (Snalc). “In chemistry, for example, some very useful points for future medical students are not covered until the third term.” For the trade unionist, this situation forces some teachers to choose between completing the program and preparing for the big oral.
Not very popular among teachers, this exercise however seems to motivate at least some of the high school students who responded to franceinfo. Linked to the choice of specialties, it is “directly linked to my school orientation and the subjects I like”, explains Titouan. Others take a more cynical view of the matter: “In the grand oral, it is impossible to have below average”, thinks Jessy. Thomas believes that this is where he “can fetch the most points”.
For these students, it is philosophy, the totem of the baccalaureate, which acts as a foil. Sometimes, for lack of interest in the subject. Sometimes, because of its reduced coefficient (8% of the mark for the general baccalaureate, 4% of that for the technological baccalaureate) and a notation perceived as severe and random. “They consider, more or less consciously, that the work required by philosophy is not really worth the effort”, observes Marie Perret. President of the Association of Philosophy Teachers in Public Education, she is not surprised by the consequences of the new calendar on her subject:
“We knew from the start that we would be the turkeys of the farce, that there would not really be a third quarter, and that our event would be isolated and emptied of its stakes.”
Marie Perret, President of the Association of Philosophy Teachers in Public Educationat franceinfo
In 2018, presenting the reform, the former Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, claimed to do philosophy “the common subject par excellence”, the only one shared by all students. Five years later, Marie Perret evokes a “real concern” on the future of his discipline.
“Show something interesting of his thought”
Without being as candid as the character of Voltaire, some are more optimistic. Philosophy teacher, Hervé Bonnet has seen the demotivation of his students in the spring. But he tries to get the idea across “that the objective is not to have the baccalaureate” : if we devote so many hours of class to seeking the meaning of freedom, justice or happiness, “it’s to develop your critical thinking” for his future life.
Similarly, although perfectible, the great oral has its advocates. David Weimar, an English teacher who prepares it with his students in the Languages, Literatures and Foreign Cultures specialism, sees in it a rare opportunity to ask the student to “show something interesting of his thought”through the interpretation of an English-speaking artistic work.
A point of view in accordance with the vision defended by the Director General of School Education, Edward Geffray. In his eyes, with this reform, the last months of high school are also “months of projection to the superior”. By deepening the specialties, supposed to correspond to the student’s orientation project. By learning to speak, a key skill afterwards. And through the study of philosophy, “a preparation for life”. He wants to believe that students do not need the “stick” grading to understand the interest of these last weeks of schooling.
The fact remains that many unions are still pleading for a return to a more traditional baccalaureate calendar, where all the tests would take place in June. Even if it means renouncing the taking into account of specialty notes in Parcoursup: “We lived very well without for years”, believes Sophie Vénétitay. If Edouard Geffray assures that the ministry will carefully observe the results and react in the event of “major upheaval” notes of philosophy, for example, the door to a step back seems closed. Asked by Le Figaro (paid article) mid-April, the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, did not envisage a reversal.