“Our work and our opinion are of absolutely no interest to the ministry!” Elise Huillery, professor of economics at Paris-Dauphine University, resigned from the Scientific Council of National Education on December 23, as she explained to L’Express. With her colleagues Yann Algan, who teaches at HEC, and Julien Grenet, research director at CNRS and associate professor at the Paris School of Economics, she detailed the reasons for their departure in front of the other members of the body during of a crisis meeting organized by video on December 21. At the heart of the discussions: the “Requirement of knowledge” mission, launched by Gabriel Attal, then head of Rue de Grenelle, on October 5. A month later, the day after the very worrying results of the international Pisa survey, the latter announced several reforms intended to raise the level of students: the establishment of level groups in mathematics and French in middle school, the facilitation of recourse for repeating a year, the creation of “high school prep” classes dedicated to students who have failed the certificate.
“The problem is that we, members of the CSEN, have not been consulted in due form on these measures, most of which go against the results of research,” deplores Elise Huillery who, during this famous month, could only express himself during an individual hearing “conducted against common sense since we had not been given the themes in advance”. November 29 was “the coup de grace”: on the occasion of an international conference organized by the CSEN devoted to social inequalities from school to higher education, Gabriel Attal spoke in a video where he made part, among other things, of its project on grade repetition. “Stunned by this announcement that we absolutely did not see coming, Elise Huillery, Yann Algan and I sent internal emails to the other members of the CSEN to share our concern and encourage them to react,” says Julien Grenet . Taken by surprise, they fail to initiate collective action. For Julien Grenet, the observation is clear: “The body does not play its role as an advisory body which is to provide scientific insight upstream, before the implementation of public policies. From there, I do not no longer see the point in sitting there.”
On February 27, Stanislas Dehaene, the president of the Scientific Council of National Education, spoke to L’Express about the resignation of the three researchers: “I understand their regrets at not having been sufficiently listened to and consulted on themes that are at the heart of their work but I deplore their decision to leave because we need specialists like them more than ever.” During this famous crisis meeting of December 21, two visions clashed: on the one hand, those who today prefer to throw in the towel. On the other hand, those who are against this empty chair policy, believing that it is more useful to continue working internally to make their voices heard.
Franck Ramus, research director at the CNRS, columnist at L’Express and member of the CSEN, is part of this last category. For him, this latest episode reveals an ambiguity that has been brewing since the start of the creation of the body in January 2018, at the instigation of the then minister Jean-Michel Blanquer. “Several of us feel a certain frustration. None of the different ministers who have succeeded one another seems to have found the instructions for our body and have really thought about asking us questions before making their decisions,” recognizes this specialist in cognitive sciences who remembers, for example, discovering the details of the baccalaureate reform in the press or regrets not having been consulted on the last reform of teacher training in 2019… While he was leading a group work on the subject.
Feeling of having been “instrumentalized”
Despite this lack of dialogue and consultation with decision-makers, the CSEN has nevertheless shown its usefulness on numerous occasions. Very focused on neuroscience at the start – which earned it some criticism – the body gradually expanded and opened up to other disciplines such as educational sciences, psychology, sociology or economy. Among its 26 members, there are also some prestigious international specialists such as Nuno Crato, former Portuguese Minister of Education, and Elizabeth Spelke, professor of psychology at Harvard University. “The fact that we can rely on certain organizations such as Depp, the statistical service of the ministry, is also our great strength, insists Stanislas Dehaene. We were able to build national assessments together, a fantastic tool to help teachers adapt to the needs of their students and to quickly check the evolution of their level over time.” The CSEN also regularly publishes notes, summaries and documents intended for the educational community. “We would like teachers to take more ownership of it but, here again, our work would have more impact if it were taken to high places,” insists Franck Ramus, emphasizing in passing that the CSEN, although attached to the ministry, “is a completely autonomous body which enjoys total freedom.”
This is not the opinion of certain resigning members who expressed their discomfort and their feeling of having been “instrumentalized” by the cabinet, particularly during the Knowledge Requirements mission. “The fact that Stanislas Dehaene was one of the four coordinators of the consultation could have created a misunderstanding and suggested that the CSEN was fully involved in the process,” says Julien Grenet, who also criticizes the president for not having organized specific sessions. internal to debate and work on the measures that were being prepared. A false trial for other members who plead a lack of time due to the constraints of the schedule imposed by the ministry and the very limited room for maneuver of the president. For some, the role entrusted to Stanislas Dehaene as part of this mission will have had salutary effects: it was he who, in particular, worked to ensure that Monica Neagoy, international mathematics consultant and member of the CSEN, was auditioned. The opportunity for this great specialist in the Singapore method to convince Gabriel Attal of the interest of this method which will be generalized in primary schools from the start of the 2024 school year.
Currently, the CSEN is bringing together scientific knowledge to shed light on the labeling of school textbooks, another future measure. However, the president of the Scientific Council does not hide his reservations regarding other reforms, in particular that which concerns the facilitation of the use of repeating a year: “On this point, the data is very clear: in the medium term, a student who repeats a year has a loss of opportunity and an increased risk of dropping out, shortening studies or delaying entry into the job market.” Which did not prevent Gabriel Attal from moving forward, despite everything, on the subject. “Our role is limited to that of advice and it happens that politicians make decisions that are not in agreement with what we recommend,” recognizes the researcher.
Roadmap dictated by Attal
Stanislas Dehaene would also have warned of the dangers of a possible organization of “level classes”, which scientific work agrees would only increase inequalities between students. Over the weeks, the councilors of Rue de Grenelle all agreed to ban the term “classes” and only speak of “groups” of level or need, insisting on the need for them to be “transitory” and “flexible”. “These two essential conditions are very clearly mentioned in the report of the Knowledge Requirements mission,” says Stanislas Dehaene for whom the success of this measure will however depend on the conditions of its implementation. “The CSEN pleads for the use of a small-scale experimentation phase for at least one year before generalizing the measure,” continues its president, while the reform, planned to be applied from the next school year in all classes of 6th and 5th grade, in French and mathematics, raises concerns.
Will the scientific body be heard this time? On February 27, she took advantage of her first meeting with the new tenant of the Rochechouart hotel, Nicole Belloubet, to put forward her arguments. “The minister, if she showed interest, made it clear that she was not in a position to delay anything. She will have to stick to the road map dictated by Gabriel Attal,” says one of the members present. Like others, he hopes that the CSEN will, however, be able to weigh in on certain decisions when applying the measure on the ground: “Hence the interest in staying!”
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