Teachers want postponement of new course
Quebec must postpone for at least a year the implementation of the new Quebec Culture and Citizenship course, say private high school teachers, who deplore the lack of training, still incomplete content and the absence of textbooks.
MARIE-EVE MORASSETHE PRESS
As of the next school year, the Culture et citoyenneté québécoise (CCQ) course must replace the Ethics and Religious Culture (ECR) course, which was redesigned in 2020.
Like the current course, it will be given during the six years of primary school
and throughout secondary school, with the exceptionof Secondary 3.
However, the entry into force of this new course is "rushed," says Léandre Lapointe, vice-president of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ – CSN). This union represents the teachers of about thirty private secondary schools.
PHOTO DOMINIC MORISSETTE, PROVIDED BY FNEEQ-CSN
Léandre Lapointe, Vice-President of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec
"Teachers need at least one year to prepare to teach a new course. You have to know that it is in addition to their usual workload, they are not released to do that, "he says.
Several trainings will not take place until the spring, and the implementation of this course shows a certain
"improvisation," according to Mr. Lapointe.
Jonathan Pereira-Lauzier, a teacher of ethics and religious culture at a private college on the South Shore, also observes that there is "a lot of vagueness" about certain elements that will have to be taught next year.
"We would benefit from having a gradual implementation, with a little more training and a little more time," says Mr. Pereira-Lauzier, who has been teaching the Ethics and Religious Culture course in high school for eight years.
While about half of the content of the current RCT course is reflected in the new course, teachers will also inherit new subjects, including sociology content, but also sexuality education, a subject currently distributed among secondary school teachers.
"There is a lot of content that I will have to appropriate in connection with sexuality education. I have to improve myself, especially since this is a sensitive subject, where we do not want to bring students to areas that are not favorable for them, "says Mr. Pereira-Lauzier.
A question of credibilityThe Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec adopted a resolution earlier this month for the Ministry of Education to postpone the entry into force of the Culture et citoyenneté québécoise course until 2024 and that this be done gradually, until the start of the 2025 school year.
It is not a question of opposing the new course, says its vice-president.
It is a question of timing. Teachers say things are rushed, that they are not ready, and want time to train. We want these courses to be credible and for students to find it useful.
Léandre Lapointe, Vice-President of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec
"If it's taught in an improvised way because we're not ready enough, I'm afraid it will encourage criticism," says Carl Pellerin-Poliquin, an ECR teacher at Collège de Lévis.
Last week, he had the opportunity to talk about his fears to the Minister of Education, who was visiting his school. Bernard Drainville, he says, "admitted" that the preparation of teachers for this course was not very advanced.
"He told me that he wants us to be ready for September and that he wants to do it for teachers," continues Mr. Pellerin-Poliquin.
An "ideal" two-year postponementThe Association québécoise en éthique et culture religieuse (AQECR) also believes that teachers are far
from ready to teach the new subject next year.
The entry into force of the new Quebec Culture and Citizenship course should be postponed "ideally two years, at least one year," says its president, Line Dubé.
"The official program is not even endorsed yet. He's really ambitious," she says.
If it is implemented next September, it is difficult to see how teachers will have a certain level of comfort and swallow such a big bite.
Line Dubé, President of the Association québécoise en éthique et culture religieuse
This course is currently being piloted in elementary and secondary schools. Teachers "learn the program by teaching it," says Line Dubé. It is only at the end of the school year that they will be able to "decant from their experience". However, only two months separate the end of the pilot project from the implementation of the new program.
A report commissioned by Quebec in the wake of the redesign of the RCT course showed that nearly half of high school teachers had not had initial training in ethics and religious culture.
Among the difficulties encountered in teaching this course, secondary school teachers cited the lack
of time to teach well, but also too many students.
MARIE-EVE MORASSETHE PRESS
As of the next school year, the Culture et citoyenneté québécoise (CCQ) course must replace the Ethics and Religious Culture (ECR) course, which was redesigned in 2020.
Like the current course, it will be given during the six years of primary school
and throughout secondary school, with the exceptionof Secondary 3.
However, the entry into force of this new course is "rushed," says Léandre Lapointe, vice-president of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ – CSN). This union represents the teachers of about thirty private secondary schools.
PHOTO DOMINIC MORISSETTE, PROVIDED BY FNEEQ-CSN
Léandre Lapointe, Vice-President of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec
"Teachers need at least one year to prepare to teach a new course. You have to know that it is in addition to their usual workload, they are not released to do that, "he says.
Several trainings will not take place until the spring, and the implementation of this course shows a certain
"improvisation," according to Mr. Lapointe.
Jonathan Pereira-Lauzier, a teacher of ethics and religious culture at a private college on the South Shore, also observes that there is "a lot of vagueness" about certain elements that will have to be taught next year.
"We would benefit from having a gradual implementation, with a little more training and a little more time," says Mr. Pereira-Lauzier, who has been teaching the Ethics and Religious Culture course in high school for eight years.
While about half of the content of the current RCT course is reflected in the new course, teachers will also inherit new subjects, including sociology content, but also sexuality education, a subject currently distributed among secondary school teachers.
"There is a lot of content that I will have to appropriate in connection with sexuality education. I have to improve myself, especially since this is a sensitive subject, where we do not want to bring students to areas that are not favorable for them, "says Mr. Pereira-Lauzier.
A question of credibilityThe Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec adopted a resolution earlier this month for the Ministry of Education to postpone the entry into force of the Culture et citoyenneté québécoise course until 2024 and that this be done gradually, until the start of the 2025 school year.
It is not a question of opposing the new course, says its vice-president.
It is a question of timing. Teachers say things are rushed, that they are not ready, and want time to train. We want these courses to be credible and for students to find it useful.
Léandre Lapointe, Vice-President of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec
"If it's taught in an improvised way because we're not ready enough, I'm afraid it will encourage criticism," says Carl Pellerin-Poliquin, an ECR teacher at Collège de Lévis.
Last week, he had the opportunity to talk about his fears to the Minister of Education, who was visiting his school. Bernard Drainville, he says, "admitted" that the preparation of teachers for this course was not very advanced.
"He told me that he wants us to be ready for September and that he wants to do it for teachers," continues Mr. Pellerin-Poliquin.
An "ideal" two-year postponementThe Association québécoise en éthique et culture religieuse (AQECR) also believes that teachers are far
from ready to teach the new subject next year.
The entry into force of the new Quebec Culture and Citizenship course should be postponed "ideally two years, at least one year," says its president, Line Dubé.
"The official program is not even endorsed yet. He's really ambitious," she says.
If it is implemented next September, it is difficult to see how teachers will have a certain level of comfort and swallow such a big bite.
Line Dubé, President of the Association québécoise en éthique et culture religieuse
This course is currently being piloted in elementary and secondary schools. Teachers "learn the program by teaching it," says Line Dubé. It is only at the end of the school year that they will be able to "decant from their experience". However, only two months separate the end of the pilot project from the implementation of the new program.
A report commissioned by Quebec in the wake of the redesign of the RCT course showed that nearly half of high school teachers had not had initial training in ethics and religious culture.
Among the difficulties encountered in teaching this course, secondary school teachers cited the lack
of time to teach well, but also too many students.
Marie-Eve Morasse
press
Quebec culture and citizenship| Teachers want the new course to be postponed| The Press (lapresse.ca)
press
Quebec culture and citizenship| Teachers want the new course to be postponed| The Press (lapresse.ca)
