It is a real cry of alarm about the science training (1) of primary school teachers – a “sacrificed”, “almost non-existent” training – that the Association Femmes et Sciences (Women and Sciences) is launching today ( F&S) and several other learned societies from several ministries – see the open letter sent this February 9, 2021 to several ministries. Interpellation encrypted relentlessly, that Sciences et Avenir – Research has decided to relay, given the crucial importance of science in today’s society, from mathematics to biology, via digital. “In two years, the training in physics-chemistry-astronomy will represent ten hours, or less than 1.2% of the total of 850 hours. Biology and technology are not treated better. […] A volume of one hundred training hours (12% of the total) appears to us to be a minimum “.
If F&S is tackling this subject today, it is also because of another quantified observation: “84% of school teachers are now women, mainly from non-scientific fields”. Result: poorly trained themselves, having largely not had to deal with science since the second class, they do not necessarily feel comfortable in these areas in front of their classes. “Aren’t many young children likely to conclude that ‘science is not for girls'” ? fear the officials of the association chaired by Nadine Halberstadt, physicist, research director (CNRS, University Paul Sabatier-Toulouse III), concerned about a real balance between men and women in these fields, a balance that does not exist today.
Several observations are alarming: during international comparisons, the results of French students are more than mediocre, at the very bottom of the ranking. In the public sphere, in many media, the scientific approach is still largely unknown, the current Covid-19 crisis has continued to reveal it. How to speak “by avoiding any dogmatism of major societal issues?”, asks F&S. Besides health, how to talk about climate change, and many other topics such as those explored by Sciences et Avenir – Research in its magazines and on its sites: digital and artificial intelligence, neurosciences, biodiversity, etc. A training of the mind for the very young, who like to understand the world and be amazed, and to make them “enlightened” citizens. A major cultural issue.
Dominique Leglu
1) Training in the National Higher Institutes of Teaching and Education (INSPE), first degree Masters in Teaching, Education and Training (MEEF).
Paris, February 9, 2021
For the attention of: The Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports
Madam Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation
Madam Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, in charge of Equality between women and men, Diversity and Equal opportunities
Madam Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior, in charge of Citizenship
Subject: Giving up minimum scientific training for primary school teachers: a bad blow to the school, to the country… and to women
We, learned societies and associations promoting the place of women in science, very worried about the ongoing reform of the models of the first degree MEEF Masters (Trades of Teaching, Education and Training), urge the government not to sacrifice the science training of elementary school teachers.
Young elementary school students like to do science. All teachers know it: their capacity to wonder, to question themselves, and their will to understand the world are immense. It is enough to feed their flame to arouse vocations. The French Republic, a country of high scientific and technical culture, has long prided itself on the quality of its “black hussars” and their ability to make the most of its youth. How then can we explain that the results of French students in science are among the worst in Europe, as the recent results of the TIMSS tests (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) have just reminded us? There is an urgent need to question the way in which science is really taught in schools and to help teachers train better.
Scientific training for teachers in dormant schools
A recent joint report by the Académie des sciences and the Académie des technologies warns of the risks incurred due to the weaknesses in both initial and in-service training of primary school teachers in science. If the latter has improved in mathematics, it has been almost non-existent in science for almost five years; initial science training, for its part, is notoriously insufficient.
The ongoing reform of the training of primary school teachers in the INSPE (National Institutes of Teaching and Education) – that is to say of the MEEF first degree masters – was a tremendous opportunity to finally improve the skills of school teachers for science education. In fact, we see on the contrary that the INSPE overwhelmingly choose to sacrifice the scientific training of future primary teaching staff. In some masters, it will be reduced to 32 hours over two full years instead of 69 hours today (volume already very insufficient in our opinion). Their training in physics-chemistry-astronomy will thus represent ten hours in two years, ie less than 1.2% of the total of 850 hours; the same for biology, and for technology.
Who can believe it is reasonable to devote less than 4% of the initial professional training of school teachers to experimental sciences and their teaching?
86% of students who enter the INSPE to become a school teacher come from non-scientific fields and have not studied science since the second or, at best, the terminal. The few hours of training devoted to science in the MEEF master’s degree (ie bac + 5) therefore already appear insufficient to bring them back to college level. However, they must also appropriate the scientific approach and learn to transmit it to their students, from kindergarten to CM2. They must also acquire sufficient perspective to make them aware of societal issues (climate change, health, etc.) while avoiding any dogmatism, in order to train enlightened citizens, maintaining a healthy relationship with scientific knowledge and ready. are to engage in scientific careers themselves.
A training that aggravates gender stereotypes towards science?
A more insidious issue of the current reform concerns the perception of the relationship of women to science. 84% of school teachers are now women mainly from non-scientific fields and therefore little trained in science teaching. Confronted with teachers uncomfortable with scientific approaches, don’t many young children risk concluding that “science is not for girls …”? Reconciling these young women with the sciences during their training is necessary to offer a female model more open to young girls, citizens of the 21st century in the making.
The Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports, Madam Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Madam Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, in charge of Equality between women and men, Diversity and Equal Opportunities, Madam Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior, in charge of Citizenship, we solemnly appeal to you today so that you guarantee to students and students who enroll in the first degree MEEF Masters of the INSPE with a decent scientific training. A volume of one hundred hours of training (12% of the total volume!) Over the two years for everyone appears to us as a minimum below which no serious training is possible.
This strong commitment, associated with support in the field as part of continuing education where the sciences join French and mathematics as national priorities, would allow us to train young enlightened citizens and to regain the place that should be the ours in international rankings.
Mr. Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports, Madam Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, it is up to your services to accredit the training models of the first MEEF Masters degree. We urge you: do not let the INSPEs renounce the scientific training of future primary school teachers.
Catherine Langlais, President of the French Society of Physics (SFP), on behalf of *:
Women and Mathematics Association
Association Femmes & Sciences (F&S)
French Association of Mechanics (AFM)
Association for the Training of Teachers of Life and Earth Sciences (AFPSVT)
Association for Parity in Scientific and Technical Professions (APMST)
Association of Professors of Biology and Geology (APBG)
Teachers and Astronomers Liaison Committee (CLEA)
French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics (SF2A)
Astronomical Society of France (SAF)
French Society for Developmental Biology (SFBD)
French Society of Microscopies (SFM)
French Optics Society (SFO)
French Society of Physics (SFP)
Union of Teachers of Scientific Preparatory Classes (UPS)
Union of Teachers of Preparatory Classes for Agronomic, Biological, Geological and Veterinary Grandes Ecoles (UPA)
Union of Professors of Physics and Chemistry (UdPPC)
* The list of signatories is updated in real time on this Copies link:
Mr. Benoît Delaunay, Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports Advisor
Madame Anne Laude, Elysée advisor for higher education and research
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