A Different Approach to Training Elementary School Teachers
Since September 2018, the Faculty of Education (FDE) has been offering a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Careers in Teaching, Education, and Training, which is open to students immediately after high school at three of its five campuses: Nîmes, Carcassonne, and Montpellier. This marks a mini-revolution in the training of future elementary school teachers.
Innovative, longer, and above all, more comprehensive. That, in a nutshell, is what the training program for elementary school teachers (preschool and elementary) offered by theUM FDE has looked likeUM the start of the last school year. “The initial training for future elementary school teachers takes place at the master’s level, following a bachelor’s degree that is often in a single discipline, and spans two years, with the first year entirely consumed by cramming for the competitive recruitment exam. This program, which ultimately amounts to only a single year of actual professional training, is clearly ill-suited to the realities of a profession that is becoming increasingly complex at the start of the 21st century. In light of this, the University of Montpellier has therefore decided to revamp it! ” said Michel Ramos, the deputy director in charge of undergraduate studies at the FDE, who—along with Agnès Perrin-Doucey and Muriel Guedj—is responsible for coordinating the gradual rollout of the bachelor’s degree program in Multidisciplinarity and Professions in Teaching, Education, and Training, starting at the Nîmes and Carcassonne, and Montpellier, followed by Mende and Perpignan at the start of the next academic year.
Innovative Training
“Learning to develop critical thinking skills, communicate effectively, solve problems, and exercise creativity… Undergraduate students are now assessed based on a competency framework during three fast-paced, career-oriented years of study. This is the first stage of the 1,500 hours of training that now precedes preparation for the elementary school teacher recruitment exam (CRPE), which remains part of the master’s program,” explains Jean-Paul Udave, who has headed the Faculty of Education for more than five years now.
No lectures, small class sizes (40 to 50 students on average), an active role for students in the learning process, state-of-the-art audiovisual and digital equipment (Learning Lab), and a strong emphasis on group work… The new bachelor’s program is designed as a true laboratory for innovative practices, whose “unconventional” format has garnered unanimous enthusiasm from students in the class of 2018–2019. “Beyond passively acquiring knowledge, we’re learning here to think about our future careers. In our history of education classes, for example, we explore not only how the role of schools has evolved over time but also the different schools of thought within the educational system,” says Mathilde Grillon, a first-year bachelor’s student enrolled at the Montpellier campus.
Local roots
Starting in September 2019, the bachelor’s degree program in Interdisciplinary Studies and Careers in Teaching, Education, and Training will be offered at the Mende and Perpignan campuses. This is an opportunity to reaffirm—if such a thing were necessary—the university’s commitment to its local roots, as it seeks to contribute, within its own capacity, to the economic, social, and cultural development of medium-sized cities known as “balanced cities .” The expansion of on-site vocational training programs enables young people from modest backgrounds to learn a trade without having to relocate—which is often prohibitively expensive—to large university cities. That is why, within a few weeks, it will be possible to access the entire training program for primary school teachers at all five FDE campuses. This will take place in small, intimate settings that allow for personalized support for each student.
The FDE Through the Eyes of a Student
Luana Guyon-Venet, 18, a first-year undergraduate student
The launch of the bachelor’s degree program in Interdisciplinary Studies and Careers in Teaching, Education, and Training at the FDE in Montpellier allows me to start training for my future career right now, without having to wait to enter a master’s program and by avoiding the previously mandatory requirement of completing a single-discipline bachelor’s degree. I’m thrilled to be part of this first graduating class, where I’m surrounded by passionate students and faculty who, beyond teaching us the essential knowledge, are helping us develop the mindset needed for the profession of elementary school teacher—a calling that, it seems to me, first emerged in my 11th-grade class. My desire to become a teacher stems quite simply from my love of children and my passion for sharing knowledge.
The FDE in Numbers
- 5 locations: Nîmes, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Mende, and Perpignan;
- 10 academic departments;
- 2,577 students;
- 150 undergraduate students at the start of the 2018 academic year.
"TAKE-OFF" Projects: MUSE Supports Educational Transformation
MUSE is currently funding three TAKE-OFF projects to support the FDE’s educational transformation: the first to establish Learning Labs at its five campuses, the second —a Bachelor’s Degree of Excellence (PULE)— to develop innovative teaching practices, and the third— Designing a Training Program in University Pedagogy (CONFOR PU) —to promote the expansion of these practices throughout the entire university community.