“Shock of knowledge”. The plan announced by Gabriel Attal on December 5, 2023 to allow teachers to “win the level battle” is aptly named. Establishment of level groups, facilitation of the use of repeating a year, creation of “high school prep” classes dedicated to students who have failed the secondary school certificate, etc. The enumeration of all these measures, supposed to be carried out at full speed since some will have to be implemented from the start of the school year next September, has in fact caused a “shock” in the teaching community.
It was two months ago. Since then, the surprise departure of Attal from Matignon, the – numerous – controversies associated with the new minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, and the rumors around an upcoming reshuffle have put the nerves of the educational world to the test. “Episodes of what amounts to a real soap opera occupy the media scene. And we, meanwhile, behind the scenes, are trying to cope with the implementation of all the changes launched once again in emergency”, breathes this principal who does not hide her annoyance. Feeling shared, she says, with the teaching team at her college. The establishment of level groups in French and maths, in 6th and 5th grade, from the next school year, crystallizes the criticism of most unions who denounce the risk of worsening of a two-tier school. Some opponents of the project even go so far as to speak of “school segregation”.
The word is strong. And it is not necessarily unanimous. “In recent days, we’ve been hearing about segregation, stigmatization, exclusion, as if the goal of the process was to get rid of the kids in greatest difficulty! But anyway, it’s not serious!” wins Iannis Roder, professor of history and geography in Seine-Saint-Denis and director of the Education Observatory of the Jean-Jaurès Foundation. Unlike some of his colleagues, this specialist does not take a dim view of the establishment of what he would rather like to be “needs groups” to allow students to make up for possible delays. “And then, in the working-class neighborhoods where I work, some children ask to be pushed more than others. I try to help them go further by giving them work and ideas for additional reading, links to articles or by recommending films to them but that is not enough. Offering them more adapted teaching, in small groups, seems interesting to me”, explains the man for whom refusing any experimentation in the name of equality and inclusion amounts to taking the wrong path.
The National Union of High Schools, Colleges, Schools and Higher Education (Snalc) is the only representative organization to have long supported the establishment of level groups. “At a time when heterogeneity is pushed to the extreme, in busy classes, at the same time helping those most in difficulty while encouraging those who ask for more is a matter of squaring the circle,” recognizes its president Jean- Rémi Girard.
“We’re going into the wall”
This does not mean that the measure will be applicable on the ground. “If the initial idea is interesting, we are doing it much too late and in a disorderly manner. Establishments are currently being asked to vote on time allocations even though no regulatory text has been published in the Official Journal. As a result, we are going into the wall,” he warns. The project also faces a glaring lack of resources. On January 22, SNPDEN-Unsa, the main management staff union, sent a warning note on this subject to Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The reason is the shortage of teachers which risks making setting music very complicated. The new “2,300 FTEs [NDLR : équivalent temps plein] are not sufficient to cover all needs”, writes the SNPDEN, fearing a loss of margin of autonomy in establishments. Certain optional courses, such as courses in modern or ancient languages, risk suffering and the developing teachers’ timetables could turn into a headache.
“There is nothing more difficult for executives than to carry a project in which they do not believe,” asserts SNPDEN. The next higher education council, which will take place on February 8 and during which the question of level groups will be debated, is therefore likely to be stormy.
As soon as the establishment of these level groups was announced, researchers warned of the unfavorable conclusions of the studies carried out on this subject. “Scientific literature has demonstrated that ‘level’ groups generate zero or negative effects. While ‘needs’ groups, which consist of very temporarily grouping students within their usual classes, for activities or specific subjects, can promote learning”, explains Lou Aisenberg, project manager of the Innovations, data and experiments in education (IDEE) program which brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of laboratories. The measure, driven by Gabriel Attal, lies between the two. “We therefore recommend an experimental phase before generalizing it. This step seems essential to us because it is a real paradigm shift for teachers who will have to adapt their teaching methods,” continues the researcher.
“Let’s experiment with solutions”
On December 5, the former host of rue de Grenelle announced another big change, this time linked to repeating a year: from now on, the final decision to keep a student in the same class the following year will fall to the teaching team and nor to his family. “While, here again, scientific studies have demonstrated the ineffectiveness of this practice, teachers will undoubtedly resort to it massively thinking, wrongly, that by giving them more time, they will be able to help their students progress.” predicts Baptiste Larseneur, education expert at the Institut Montaigne, pointing out a false good idea, which is also “very expensive”. Iannis Roder is far from being so categorical and puts forward another important dimension: “The return of repeating a year, and therefore of a form of sanction, can restore a certain authority to the institution and therefore to the teaching voice”. For a student, the simple fact of knowing that their move to the next class will not be automatic can perhaps have a driving effect. A point of view shared by Jean-Rémi Girard, “many of his colleagues no longer even know why they attend class councils since they know that their students are on a big treadmill.”
The president of Snalc nevertheless says he is in favor of alternatives to repeating a year, such as the famous “high school prep” announced, again, by Gabriel Attal at the beginning of December. The idea? Group young people who have failed the certificate at the entrance to high school so that they can benefit from an additional year before joining a second general and technological or professional course. This measure should take effect at the start of the 2025 school year. “But how can we make up for the delay accumulated since elementary school in one year? That seems illusory to me,” says Baptiste Larseneur. The implementation of this measure will obviously not be able to avoid a vast plan focused on the smallest classes since that is where everything is at stake. “But, at least, let’s experiment with solutions. The condition, for it to work, is obviously that the means follow, insists Iannis Roder. It’s like in war: if the logistics don’t follow, it’s disarray on the battlefield.”
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