Elisabeth Borne, Minister of Education, has made numerous announcements,
including the highly anticipated return to vocational training and an
agreement on school schedules. We asked for the reactions of Véronique
Decker, a teacher and then school principal for 27 years in Bobigny
(93). A union activist at the École Émancipée, then at SUD éducation, an
educational activist at the Institut Coopératif de l'École Moderne
(ICEM) Freinet pedagogy and at the OCCE[1], and an advocate for
children's rights at DEI[2], she has published four books with Libertalia.
Is the reform of initial teacher training a return to the normal school
model? Faced with numerous teacher resignations and students' hesitation
to take demanding competitive exams for a difficult and poorly paid job,
the government is forced to act. For now, Borne has announced the
restoration of professional training for teachers without providing much
detail. To make the profession attractive, salaries would need to be
increased, social rights restored, particularly the obligation for
municipalities to provide housing for teachers, and per-student funding
increases, which vary enormously between municipalities.
To be effective, the time spent on professional, didactic, and
pedagogical training in both initial and continuing education must be
significantly increased. The creation of a university degree repositions
the beginning of training at the Baccalaureate level. The two paid years
of civil servant traineeships at the Master's level could be a step
forward. But with half-time "in front of students" in a responsible role
rather than a supervised internship, there is deception. And secondary
school teachers fear a loss of expertise in their subject.
Véronique Decker is a retired school principal, educational activist at
the ICEM Freinet Pedagogy, union member, and author of books published
by Libertalia.
How can we ensure quality training? There is the National Higher
Institute of Teaching and Education (Institut National Supérieur du
Professorat et de l'Éducation) (National Institute for Teaching and
Education), which is staffed by teachers and educational advisors. But
in some severely understaffed academies, such as Versailles and Créteil,
there is a lack of advisors to support the large number of contract
teachers in post without any training. Transfers based on seniority have
a perverse effect: the least trained teachers are placed ahead of
children from the neighborhoods experiencing the most difficulties. This
causes a great deal of suffering for both students and staff. And
nothing is seriously planned for them.
To turn the tide, universities would need to hire tenured and
experienced professors in disciplinary and pedagogical fields, as well
as in child and adolescent psychology. But that's not what's on the
horizon. On the contrary, we see artificial intelligence lobbies
promising ever more digital content. The race for standardized
performance replaces education that builds children's personalities.
What content should be prioritized in training? Borne mentions 450 hours
of training in the first Master's program and 300 hours in the second
Master's program, with a half-time class load, or 432 hours of teaching.
Students will have to prepare their classes, mark homework, meet with
parents, learn their lessons, and finalize a master's thesis... Mission
impossible!
For the return of disciplinary and pedagogical training with quality
content, we will have to set the requirements collectively with students
and their unions. They must develop their own educational projects in
collaboration with teachers' unions and educational networks.
And what do you think of the citizens' convention on school schedules?
Children's time is primarily their parents' social time and the need for
childcare that allows women to go to work, since it is generally the
mother who provides it. Municipalities no longer provide enough summer
camps or leisure centers with stable and qualified staff. We have seen
in the poorest communities the harmful effects of "children's time"
programs with pseudo-cultural workshops led by underqualified temporary
workers. Borne opens a debate on "rhythms" to pit parents against
teachers, students against the institution, and ultimately increase the
working hours of educational staff.
The real reform would be to ensure that all parents have working hours
compatible with this "children's time." Who questions the time of the
children of cashiers who work Sundays or that of children whose parents
work three-shift jobs? Who demands that all students be relocated to the
seaside or the mountains? For "childhood time up to the age of three," a
child who needs to build strong social interactions with available
relatives, we need more than just parental leave at birth, but also the
ability to work part-time without loss of pay.
Audrey Chenu and Véronique Decker, Entrer en pédagogie féministe,
Libertalia, June 2023, 188 pages, 10 euros.
I often hear that overly long vacations penalize children from
disadvantaged neighborhoods, and it's true. Except that it's not the
vacations that penalize them, but the lack of content. Where are the
summer camps? The buildings, costly to maintain, have been sold. Where
are the youth and cultural centers? The teams, too precarious, have
disintegrated. Even the military and police forces that used to come and
provide activities on the paving stones and lawns of the housing
projects have disappeared! There remains the crazy expense of the
Universal National Service... But extending school hours with exhausted
staff won't improve the situation. First, we're looking for a review of
the "learning vacation" program. Did the children really learn with a
teacher they didn't know during half a week of classes? We're also
looking for a review of the "boarding school of excellence" program,
which was supposed to send the best students from working-class
neighborhoods to boarding school.
Education requires a long time frame, stable programs discussed
democratically with the population and teachers. We also need buildings,
spaces, hygiene, food, games, and sports facilities. We also need school
doctors, social workers, mediation with parents, and specialized staff
to help students with difficulties. We also need trained staff and
numbers adapted to the inclusion of children with disabilities, and a
simple pathway for the schooling of unaccompanied minors or those who
don't speak French.
But no. We end up with Kleenex ministers, thrown away every six months,
who all have a grand plan, a fundamental reform, a citizens' convention,
and other gadgets whose results are never evaluated, while teachers are
forced to submit stupid evaluations. The liberal objective regarding
education is simple: destroy trust in the public sector to promote the
growth of the private sector and open up lucrative returns for shareholders.
Interview by Jean-Yves (UCL Limousin)
Confirm
[1]The Central Office for School Cooperation is an association that
brings together the actions of student cooperatives with the help of
their teachers.
[2]Defense for Children International is an association that ensures the
implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Veronique-Decker-L-ecole-est-un-miroir-des-crises-de-la-societe
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
including the highly anticipated return to vocational training and an
agreement on school schedules. We asked for the reactions of Véronique
Decker, a teacher and then school principal for 27 years in Bobigny
(93). A union activist at the École Émancipée, then at SUD éducation, an
educational activist at the Institut Coopératif de l'École Moderne
(ICEM) Freinet pedagogy and at the OCCE[1], and an advocate for
children's rights at DEI[2], she has published four books with Libertalia.
Is the reform of initial teacher training a return to the normal school
model? Faced with numerous teacher resignations and students' hesitation
to take demanding competitive exams for a difficult and poorly paid job,
the government is forced to act. For now, Borne has announced the
restoration of professional training for teachers without providing much
detail. To make the profession attractive, salaries would need to be
increased, social rights restored, particularly the obligation for
municipalities to provide housing for teachers, and per-student funding
increases, which vary enormously between municipalities.
To be effective, the time spent on professional, didactic, and
pedagogical training in both initial and continuing education must be
significantly increased. The creation of a university degree repositions
the beginning of training at the Baccalaureate level. The two paid years
of civil servant traineeships at the Master's level could be a step
forward. But with half-time "in front of students" in a responsible role
rather than a supervised internship, there is deception. And secondary
school teachers fear a loss of expertise in their subject.
Véronique Decker is a retired school principal, educational activist at
the ICEM Freinet Pedagogy, union member, and author of books published
by Libertalia.
How can we ensure quality training? There is the National Higher
Institute of Teaching and Education (Institut National Supérieur du
Professorat et de l'Éducation) (National Institute for Teaching and
Education), which is staffed by teachers and educational advisors. But
in some severely understaffed academies, such as Versailles and Créteil,
there is a lack of advisors to support the large number of contract
teachers in post without any training. Transfers based on seniority have
a perverse effect: the least trained teachers are placed ahead of
children from the neighborhoods experiencing the most difficulties. This
causes a great deal of suffering for both students and staff. And
nothing is seriously planned for them.
To turn the tide, universities would need to hire tenured and
experienced professors in disciplinary and pedagogical fields, as well
as in child and adolescent psychology. But that's not what's on the
horizon. On the contrary, we see artificial intelligence lobbies
promising ever more digital content. The race for standardized
performance replaces education that builds children's personalities.
What content should be prioritized in training? Borne mentions 450 hours
of training in the first Master's program and 300 hours in the second
Master's program, with a half-time class load, or 432 hours of teaching.
Students will have to prepare their classes, mark homework, meet with
parents, learn their lessons, and finalize a master's thesis... Mission
impossible!
For the return of disciplinary and pedagogical training with quality
content, we will have to set the requirements collectively with students
and their unions. They must develop their own educational projects in
collaboration with teachers' unions and educational networks.
And what do you think of the citizens' convention on school schedules?
Children's time is primarily their parents' social time and the need for
childcare that allows women to go to work, since it is generally the
mother who provides it. Municipalities no longer provide enough summer
camps or leisure centers with stable and qualified staff. We have seen
in the poorest communities the harmful effects of "children's time"
programs with pseudo-cultural workshops led by underqualified temporary
workers. Borne opens a debate on "rhythms" to pit parents against
teachers, students against the institution, and ultimately increase the
working hours of educational staff.
The real reform would be to ensure that all parents have working hours
compatible with this "children's time." Who questions the time of the
children of cashiers who work Sundays or that of children whose parents
work three-shift jobs? Who demands that all students be relocated to the
seaside or the mountains? For "childhood time up to the age of three," a
child who needs to build strong social interactions with available
relatives, we need more than just parental leave at birth, but also the
ability to work part-time without loss of pay.
Audrey Chenu and Véronique Decker, Entrer en pédagogie féministe,
Libertalia, June 2023, 188 pages, 10 euros.
I often hear that overly long vacations penalize children from
disadvantaged neighborhoods, and it's true. Except that it's not the
vacations that penalize them, but the lack of content. Where are the
summer camps? The buildings, costly to maintain, have been sold. Where
are the youth and cultural centers? The teams, too precarious, have
disintegrated. Even the military and police forces that used to come and
provide activities on the paving stones and lawns of the housing
projects have disappeared! There remains the crazy expense of the
Universal National Service... But extending school hours with exhausted
staff won't improve the situation. First, we're looking for a review of
the "learning vacation" program. Did the children really learn with a
teacher they didn't know during half a week of classes? We're also
looking for a review of the "boarding school of excellence" program,
which was supposed to send the best students from working-class
neighborhoods to boarding school.
Education requires a long time frame, stable programs discussed
democratically with the population and teachers. We also need buildings,
spaces, hygiene, food, games, and sports facilities. We also need school
doctors, social workers, mediation with parents, and specialized staff
to help students with difficulties. We also need trained staff and
numbers adapted to the inclusion of children with disabilities, and a
simple pathway for the schooling of unaccompanied minors or those who
don't speak French.
But no. We end up with Kleenex ministers, thrown away every six months,
who all have a grand plan, a fundamental reform, a citizens' convention,
and other gadgets whose results are never evaluated, while teachers are
forced to submit stupid evaluations. The liberal objective regarding
education is simple: destroy trust in the public sector to promote the
growth of the private sector and open up lucrative returns for shareholders.
Interview by Jean-Yves (UCL Limousin)
Confirm
[1]The Central Office for School Cooperation is an association that
brings together the actions of student cooperatives with the help of
their teachers.
[2]Defense for Children International is an association that ensures the
implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Veronique-Decker-L-ecole-est-un-miroir-des-crises-de-la-societe
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten