The daily existence of teachers is a world that is relatively poorly understood. Reading the latest book by Sylvain Bersinger, And it surprises you that we can no longer find teachers? allows us to lift a corner of the veil. The author, who is now an economist in a private research center, began his professional life as a teacher of economics. His career as a teacher took him to various types of establishments, public or private, and in particular to vocational education and agricultural education. His text, gripping and well written, reads like a novel, even if it is a testimony very anchored in reality. We find there what everyone feels more or less: the great loneliness of teachers in the face of an elusive administrative technostructure; programs that change inconsistently; the difficulty of maintaining discipline in classes where disruptive elements, although few in number, constantly create the balance of power; the joy of seeing certain students progress; the fundamentally endearing character of a youth who has the eternal doubts of adolescence and what is commonly called “the stupid age”.
The book, built around anecdotes, develops a more general and in-depth reflection on the profession of teacher. It addresses in particular the changes that could improve the situation, at a time when, as its very evocative title reminds us, the profession has lost a significant part of both its prestige and its attractiveness. What Sylvain Bersinger proposes is to return to the rigidities which surround the exercise of the profession, and more particularly to those linked to the status of the civil service. He questions recruitment based on competitions whose content is quite far removed from the profession, a question that is all the more significant as these competitions are increasingly unsuccessful.
The author says that sometimes, while he is at his desk browsing the statistics of the world economy, he feels nostalgic for his teaching years. He draws the conclusion that greater flexibility, allowing engineers to teach mathematics between two positions in industry, or English people for the language of Shakespeare, would be welcome. In summary, Sylvain Bersinger is campaigning for fewer thunderous reforms, more affirmation of the virtues of meritocracy and more competition in the management of establishments. “Competition” is a formidable word, which his training as an economist naturally introduces into debates, and which his experience fully justifies.
And is it surprising to you that we can no longer find teachers? Why I Embraced and then Left the Profession
by Sylvain Bersinger. Enrick B. editions, 170 p., €16.95.
Rating 5/5