The definition of "teaching" has changed: now the "teacher" transmits less knowledge than attitudes, methods, orientations, and principles. He accompanies. His action of "arousing and maintaining the interest of students" faces
competition from the outside world; so he gives himself the means to act on his
to act on his environment and better control it.
He trains himself in new practices and new tools. If the school architecture changes, so will his practices. He prepares his lessons in advance, integrates them with the technologies used and plans B and C. The personalization of teaching requires a different organization than the one the school has used until now and that he has known. Not to mention the arrival of artificial intelligence, hybrid realities or unforeseen events such as an epidemic that disrupt the organization and require rapid adaptation.
His relationship with parents prompts a collective renegotiation of a new contract between "the school" and "the parents." The involvement of parents is recognized as beneficial, but it is their involvement and not a relationship of authority or client.
It must also organize itself to defend its pedagogical activity from impertinent administrative incursions and other injunctions external to its mission. The school is preparing for the future and it is normal to want to influence it; therefore, the school will always be a subject of political debate; the teacher has educational principles to defend.
The desire to integrate particular students and other social or political considerations may also influence the methods used and the organization of his class. The teacher cannot be asked to apply them without being given the means and support to do so. In the regions, realities of accessibility, equipment, or class size are added to the standard contingencies decided upon in the ministries' offices.
Hoping for equal results in so many different contexts implies an approach adapted to each environment. So we come to the idea of an equitable, flexible, dynamic school whose teachers, in collaboration with those who accompany them, ensure its local adaptation. They are in the best position, so we might as well listen to them.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: DepositPhotos - undrey
