FOG – The grand oral, an unprecedented baccalaureate test, is fast approaching. Yet many students say they don’t feel ready. Some of their teachers, too, are a bit confused.
Charlotte Anglade –
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A little over two weeks before the unprecedented test of the grand oral of the baccalaureate, stress is mounting. According to a survey of 1,788 people, high school students and parents of French high school students (17 to 52 years old) by the start-up Max’Sens Innovations, over 77% of students say they do not feel ready.
The survey, published Wednesday, also reveals that 83% of high school students say they did not have the right conditions to prepare for the grand oral and that two thirds of them do not feel comfortable speaking in public.
Students and teachers “in the dark”
“We are completely lost” on the organization of this test, confirms Lim-Thomas, in Terminale STI2D (science and technology of industry and sustainable development) in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. The 17-year-old baccalaureate candidate confides that he does not understand very well what is expected of him during the grand oral. For Nicolas, who is preparing to take a general baccalaureate with specialization in mathematics and physics in Lille, the “blurry” is also total.
Solicited by LCI, Rémy Reynaud, professor of economic and social sciences (SES) at the Simone Veil high school in Marseille, finds nothing very surprising in this. “In many places, we had distance training on the nature of this test, on its organization and on how we were going to assess the students, and the trainers themselves said they were groping.”, he reports. “It’s a stressor for the teachers, and for the students let’s not talk about it.”
A preparation for the test deemed insufficient?
While, according to the survey carried out by Max’Sens Innovations, more than three quarters of students do not feel sufficiently prepared to take this test, the teacher sees a very clear explanation: “Since March, the teachers are supposed to continue working on the program and at the same time preparing for this test. So that poses extremely important organizational problems”, confirms to LCI Rémy Reynaud. “Either we consider that a third of the program is not important, which questions, or we still continue certain elements of the course, which reduces the time devoted to the grand oral.”
According to Pasqual Kittel, professor of History-Geography at the Marie Curie high school in Strasbourg and federal secretary of SGEN / CFDT, many teachers have chosen to give priority to allowing students to prepare for the grand oral. “Most of the time, the Grand Oral was prepared face-to-face thanks to interactive lessons. The advantage of preparing for the Grand Oral is that the 5-minute format allows large numbers of students to pass during a hour”, he explains to LCI. Except that before this oral presentation, a long preparation is necessary upstream, recalls the teacher of SES Marseille, who emphasizes that the support of each student is very time-consuming, “especially when we have classes of 30 students”.
The Grand oral in 18 days: I haven’t started my questions and the white oral exams are next Friday.
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While each is supposed to have prepared two questions on one of the chapters covered during the teaching of his specialty, that he must present one of the two for five minutes to a jury during the grand oral, many say on Twitter be late, or still not have found the subjects they would like to discuss. “It’s crap for the Grand oral. Next Friday, oral, and I still haven’t started anything and I still don’t have my physics question.”, indicates an Internet user.
“The pupils have the themes on which they can decline their questions since the beginning of the year”, notes Pascal Kittel, who sits on the Higher Education Council. However, he wants to be reassuring. “A student who has not yet prepared his questions still has time to do so. A question can be dealt with quite quickly and we, the teachers, are completely listening … provided that the student questions us. “, he explains.
He also specifies that until June 17, the students of Terminale must no longer have any other concerns than to devote themselves entirely to the preparation of their philosophy test, scheduled for June 17, then the grand oral, which takes place. stall from June 21 to July 2. “That’s all they have to do, with less pressure compared to other years: in philosophy, only grades higher than those of continuous assessment will be counted.”
Knowing how to speak in public, a learning process that takes time
For Rémy Reynaud, the preparation problem goes beyond the content: “Much of the assessment grid for this exam is associated with elements associated with eloquence. However, eloquence cannot be worked on in three months. It is a long task that the students must integrate “, he explains, noting possible inequalities between students who were able to have lessons throughout the year in face-to-face, unlike others, like Lim-Thomas, who only had lessons for one week. On two. “All of this worries us greatly.”
“If the preparations for the Grand Oral have indeed been variable according to the establishments – but which are always variable according to the establishments! – the key word of this Grand oral is benevolence”, tempers Pascal Kittel. “It is obvious that the balance will vary according to the strengths of each of the students: if the substance is greater than the form, it is the substance which will prevail a little, and vice versa”, said the member of the Higher Education Council.
Some students still not called for their Grand oral
On Twitter in recent days, many students reported on the other hand, visibly stressed, still not having received their summons for the Grand oral.
Nicolas, the high school student from Lille, tells us for his part that he received his summons on Thursday, to be returned the same day after having had it signed by his specialty teachers. “The teachers told us that they gave them to us as soon as they got them. It was a pain”, he says.
“Considering the stressful year where everything was done at the last moment, the stress level of the students is very important. It would have been good if they could have their convocation a little month in advance to be clear on the way it’s going to be “, remarks Rémy Reynaud, who insists on the fact that the teachers have not received their summons either. “Knowing when we will be summoned, if we are summoned, allows us to have an idea of how this end of the year will be, which is unprecedented”, says the teacher unionized with the CGT.
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For this first bac of the reform instituted by Jean-Michel Blanquer, disturbed by the health crisis, the continuous assessment will represent at least 82% of the final mark of the exam, the written test of philosophy and that of the grand oral corresponding to the 18% remaining. The two exams are the only ones that have been held face-to-face.
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