2023-08-25 04:00:00
Discouraged by the working conditions in the schools, teachers with almost ten years’ experience downright decided to quit the job for attend to occupations that have nothing to do with what they were doing in class.
Until recently, Vincent Ouellette Destroimaisons, 35, was happy in his job as a teacher. He loved his students. He loved his colleagues, his management and his school, located in Outaouais.
But next week, he won’t be in class teaching math, science or computer science.
He will instead devote himself to his three children and his self-sufficient farmhouse, which includes chickens, ducks and quail, while working in a cooperative.
He is one of thousands of teachers who have left the profession recently, while Quebec is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of staff in its schools, a few days before the start of the school year.
To spoil everything
By working 4 days a week, he had found the right balance between work and family. He even intended to return to study to obtain his teaching certificate, says the one who has already campaigned to facilitate the qualification of those who have not followed the traditional course.
And now, following nearly 10 years, the rigidity of its school service center (CSS) has ruined everything. He was told in June that he would have no choice but to work five days a week in order “to improve service to the student”.
“When I asked [pour 4 jours]it was refused to me since everything [privilège] has been cut so that the teachers are on an equal footing, ”he laments.
In recent years, several unions have denounced this short-term way of thinking, which often only fuels the vicious circle of resignations.
Audrey Daignault, 29, had her baccalaureate and her patent in good and due form. She had 7 years of experience in elementary school classes. But for the first time in her life, she will not experience a return to school.
“I felt like crying”
“I arrived in the morning and I already felt like crying,” says the one who taught first-grade children in Montérégie.
Last winter, she hit the wall of burnout (see other text).
After getting better over the months, she decided to devote herself to her other passion, that of editing and video creation.
She now wants to earn a living as an influencer and content creator, since she had already been doing it for regarding ten years as a hobby.
It is moreover on his TikTok account that she first testified to her decision to leave teaching.
“If you really stop [ta journée de travail] at 4 p.m., your to-do list is long as well,” she mimes in the video. “And then you don’t feel ready at all.”
“There is a part of society that still thinks that teachers are complaining for nothing, that teachers are therefore fine with their two months of vacation… But who don’t hang at doors to apply!”
Audrey Daigneault, aka Audrey_Qc on Tiktok Courtoisie Karine Langelier
Exhaustion so common that “it’s scary”
Burnout has become so common in teaching in recent years that some feel it is almost a must.
When Audrey Daigneault announced that she was on sick leave last winter, the reaction of her colleagues surprised her.
“I didn’t feel judged at all. In fact, many had already been there.
“It’s like it’s common [le burnout en enseignement]. And that’s what scares me.”
When she showed up at the medical clinic for consultation, she had to reveal that she was a teacher.
“The reaction of the secretary was: ah, okay, I understand!”, she says.
The newspaper published last February that Quebec experienced a wave of resignations of nearly 4,000 teachers three years in public schools.
If some have not given up on the job and have simply changed CSS, the testimonials of teachers at the end of their tether continue to accumulate.
Lights to be extinguished
“I really liked my school, but it was in a very disadvantaged environment, rated at the maximum,” explains Ms. Daigneault.
In the past two years, his groups have been extremely heavy, with young people having tantrums and throwing objects. Others had significant learning disabilities. She also had little ones who would have needed a little more francization before ending up in a regular class, she lists.
She tips her hat to the special educators who came to support her regularly, but there were simply not enough of them to put out all the fires at the same time.
Lack of respect
Julie (fictitious name) has been off work since June. She had been teaching future licensed practical nurses in the metropolitan area for 12 years.
She preferred to remain anonymous because she still has an employment link with her CSS, but she too decided to change careers, fed up with the lack of respect from her students.
“I am not surprised to see that many teachers are leaving their field. We do not feel supported by our employers. It has become a disaster,” she said.
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