Martin and Martine decide to become secondary school teachers. Martin immediately begins work as a non-legally qualified (NLQ) teacher. Martine decides to do her baccalaureate before teaching.
Nineteen years: that’s how long it will take before Martine earns more money than Martin.
Martin, who is NLQ, is not entitled to annual raises. His salary is fixed throughout his career. Martine is entitled to annual raises, but she spent four years studying. Four years during which Martine was in debt while Martin was busy making money. Busy making money, but not necessarily teaching well. In any case, to teach as best he can, without training.
This is the “problem situation” that I presented to my colleagues as part of a piloting activity for a fourth year teaching course. The conclusion of my activity was received like a slap in the face by the youngest in the group. For me (I’m 46) and the three other old men and women in my group, it was received like a kick in the balls, even for those who don’t have one. After all, 19 years is more or less the entirety of our second teaching career.
But Martin is full of good will. He sincerely wants to help his students and teach his subject well. So, he asks Martine for advice, who has completed her baccalaureate. She knows the different teaching approaches and the effects they will have on students. She masters her subject and the different teaching approaches. She knows how to vary her teaching so that the 2 students who are on the autism spectrum, the 4 students with behavioral problems and the 3 students who have anxiety on the mat all progress as well as the 23 other students in his class. (Don’t take out your calculator, that’s 32 students in the class.)
So Martin asks Martine for advice on how to give the best possible lesson. Martine restrains the deep desire to piss off Martin, who took a shortcut and didn’t complete his baccalaureate. She restrains her urge to send him to pasture because she knows that, if she does not help Martin, it is the students who will suffer the consequences. So, she takes her time, which is not recognized in her official task, to help Martin.
Martine woke up this morning (Friday September 15) and read the headlines. Drainville wants to reduce the teaching baccalaureate from four years to three years. Martine cannot bear this new insult to her training, to her profession. Too bad for classes, she goes back to bed. But she cannot close her eyes, she thinks of her future students who will not have the chance to benefit from all the expertise she acquired during her four years of training. She cannot choose to give up, it is the students who will pay the price. She rolls up her sleeves and returns to university to finish her baccalaureate.
In short, you have to be stupid to choose to be a teacher. And I’m stupid with all my heart.