“If I had to do it all over again, I’d go back to teaching”
The number of applicants for secondary school teaching positions has fallen by more than 30% over the past fifteen years. And the situation is no better in elementary education. Agnès Perrin-Doucey is the dean of the Faculty of Education; prior to that, she taught at every level from preschool through high school, including middle school. She reflects on the human values of a profession that forms the foundation of our societies.
In 2023, the number of applicants for the primary school teacher certification exam was down 38% compared to 2021, and down 18.5% for the secondary school exam (Le Monde, January 2, 2023). Are all teaching and education professions affected by this decline in appeal?
The phenomenon is very visible across all teaching professions, slightly less so for the CPE competitive exam, but it is gradually catching up. There is a decline in the appeal of professions focused on people in general. We are also seeing this in the healthcare sector. It is a trend affecting other European countries, even though France is a country where teachers are, after all, treated rather poorly.
Is this a widespread phenomenon?
In elementary schools, school districts like Créteil and Versailles are more affected, but even in Montpellier—a highly sought-after district—the acceptance rate has dropped; it now stands at 1.5 applicants per position. In secondary schools, many subjects are struggling to recruit teachers. We’re talking about math or German, but this is also the case for French. There are still highly sought-after subjects like physical education, philosophy, or history and geography, but even there, the number of candidates taking the competitive exam is starting to drop.
You say these professions are being mistreated—why?
There is the issue of pay, but that’s not the only factor. Public service professions have long been held in low esteem by society in general. For teachers, there are also the constant and exhausting reforms that ultimately lead to disengagement; some hesitate to commit to this profession for 42 or 43 years. There are also international surveys that promote the idea that the French school system is in decline without explaining the reasons for these weaknesses and without mentioning that French students include some of the best in the world. This is an illustration of the social divide in our country, which is very much present in schools.
The proportion of contract teachers has risen by 1.5 percentage points in secondary schools over the past five years, and in elementary schools, the number of contract teachers was up 38% compared to 2020 (Senate Information Report, June 8, 2022). The Versailles School District has even organized job fairs to recruit (France Bleue, May 27, 2022). How can we motivate young people to take the competitive exam?
Today, many teachers enter the profession through contract positions. In secondary education, the competitive exam is national, and many students do not wish to go to academies with teacher shortages. This topic was a major focus during the meeting organized with the rector: “Are you considering holding an academic-level competitive exam for secondary education?” [Read Meeting with Future Teachers at UM, 11/7/2023]. And then we take the competitive exams later on as well. By the time we’re 24 or 25, we’re already settled in life; many young people are in relationships and looking to settle down. All of this weighs on recruitment.
The resignation rate among student teachers has never been higher; it is currently ten times higher than that of tenured teachers (Senate briefing report by G. Longuet, June 8, 2022). What do you think is causing these resignations?
In Montpellier, the rates aren’tas high. Internships are essential, but it’s true that sometimes certain experiences can be overwhelming for young people because they realize that teaching is difficult and exhausting. There’s the voice, the breath, the physical fatigue… The teacher in the classroom is the one who drives the energy, so you have to have plenty of it. That’s one of the things you discover as you learn the profession. Personally, I got into teaching at a fairly young age, first as a counselor at a summer camp. When you’re woken up in the middle of the night because a child is sick—even though you’ve only been asleep for two hours—you learn to put yourself aside and get up. These experiences don’t teach you how to teach, but they instill the essential interpersonal skills needed for teaching and interacting with young children.
You mentioned the essential qualities of a teacher—what do you think they are?
The first essential quality for teaching is kindness and self-control, but it also means knowing how to establish authority and being firm while remaining fair. Ask the students, and they’ll all say the same thing. A good teacher is someone who is fair, who helps you grow, who listens to you, who understands you. It’s someone who is able to meet the student where they are and take them as far as possible. It’s a bit like the “honest man” of the 18th century. You should reread Montaigne’s Essays; he had a lot to say about what makes a good teacher.
But in a classroom, not all students are at the same level—how do you reach them all?
Yes, and that’s why equity is an essential value. All of this can be learned; you become a better teacher with experience, even if it’s not always that simple, because you don’t succeed with every student. And then, of course, there’s mastery of and interest in one’s subject, and all the intellectual qualities that enable effective knowledge transfer—even though I don’t like the word “transfer.”
Why?
Because it implies that there is an empty vessel that the teacher will fill with their knowledge. I often tell trainees at the very beginning of the year: we don’t teach; we facilitate learning. It is the student who learns; we create the conditions for learning. That is why training today places greater emphasis on what are known as soft skills. Learning to develop a non-violent relationship with oneself and others, for example. In France, we’ve largely clung to the idea that knowledge must be adapted to the technical aspects of the profession, but there are many other skills to acquire.
What do you mean?
For example, we expect elementary school teachers to master the techniques of teaching reading. Yes, of course, but above all, they must be able to analyze how students learn; when it comes to learning to read, students learn in extremely different ways. They must also know how to foster the student’s relationship with reading.
Are there still teaching techniques?
Yes, but that’s not the most important thing. It’s a profession that requires a deep understanding of one’s subject matter, but also of child and adolescent psychology, society, history, pedagogy, and who one is as a person. Jaurès said: “We don’t teach what we know or what we think we know…: we also teach, to some extent, who we are.” ” This quote is debatable; one must also set aside private matters. But when he speaks of who we are, he refers to our commitment, to the kind of citizen we are. It is what has shaped and built us, and inevitably, it is a profession in which the question of human values is a central one.
Is commitment a fundamental value of the teaching profession?
I believe you can’t do this job unless you’re committed to people or to citizenship, unless you reflect on the importance of this profession for humanity—and I mean humanity, I’m being very ambitious. Clearly, it is an intellectual profession with political implications; yet it is often treated as a technical profession, particularly in elementary education.
Do you still encourage students to pursue these careers?
The other day, a student asked the Rector and everyone present: “Do you think this is the best job in the world? ” I don’t know if it’s the best job in the world—it’s the only one I’ve ever had—but if I had to do it all over again, I’d become a teacher again, even in the current climate. I’ve found complete fulfillment in this profession because it gave me exactly what I was looking for: a passion for my field, the humanities; a passion for teaching; and a passion for human connection. I was able to progress steadily in my career; perhaps that’s why I have no regrets about my choices. And today there are still students who believe in this profession. I don’t know if that’s what you call a calling, but they pursue it because they want to teach.
What has the teaching profession brought you personally?
During her visit, the university president told the students that we all have a role model teacher; as for me, I have plenty of them. I also have teachers I’d rather avoid. But I also think that every teacher has students who have left a mark on their lives, students who have helped them grow in their profession. There’s an education inspector for the humanities at the Montpellier school district who developed a project called “The Students Who Elevate Us.” That’s exactly what this profession is about—the students elevate us.