- Virtual badges to enhance the “pedagogical agility” of teachers were launched by the Montpellier academy after the Covid crisis.
- This gratification system has been strongly contested by the teaching community, who sees it as infantilization.
After the medals for caregivers, make way for badges for teachers? In a rant published on June 27 on Facebook and shared by thousands of Internet users, Aurélien Barrau was indignant at a measure put in place by the Montpellier Academy. The famous French astrophysicist was moved by the creation of virtual "badges" intended to enhance the commitment of teachers during the coronavirus crisis.
Based on a screenshot, the scientist is indignant at four "open badges" of color supposed to reward the "educational agility" of the teachers during confinement. Like the junior beaver medals, each teacher who wishes can be awarded "explorer", "user", "passer" or "builder" badges according to the skills developed during the health crisis.
A strongly denounced “policy of the good point”
"This" culture of management ", this" politics of the good point ", this" ontology of the Excel table "is an offense to life as such, severely tackled Aurélien Barrau. These antics are not only grotesque, they are deeply harmful: what good is the meaning and content, what good is the students and their feelings, what is the real and its subtlety, here to supplant them ... badges! "
Indignation also shared by the teachers. “It's quite infantilizing and even annoying. After the medals to the caregivers, we have digital badges. It's like good points that we would give to children. The reception of this measure is really not very good among teachers, ”confirms Anthony De Souza, teacher of schools in Montpellier and co-secretary of SNUipp-FSU in Hérault.
One day, somewhere in the National Education:
- - Good guys, we have a problem of remuneration and consideration of teachers, an idea?
- 🙂 We increase wages.
- 🤓 Any idea? Someone ? I'm waiting ...
- 🤡 We give them colorful badges.
- 🤓Banco!
FAKE OFF
Asked about the subject, the Montpellier academy confirms the existence of these four badges to specifically reward the work of teachers "during the coronavirus epidemic". “This is a period during which teachers took up a major challenge, namely to change posture. They went from classroom to distance class with the development of digital professional skills throughout this period of confinement, ”explains Sabrina Caliaros, digital delegate at the Montpellier Academy.
But the institution did not wait for confinement to set up the system of "open badges". Launched in early 2019 in various academies such as Montpellier, but also Poitiers and even Nice, this experiment aims above all to highlight the emergence of new practices around the use of digital technology in the teaching world.
“It is by no means a reward or a medal. It is part of a process of continuous professional development that can be used in the context, for example, of a career interview. These are acquired transversal skills which cannot necessarily be recognized through a diploma or professional certification, ”explains the rectorate of Poitiers at 20 Minutes.
57 different badges created since 2019
Thus, in a year and a half, no less than 57 different badges - not only related to the epidemic, therefore - were issued in the Montpellier academy on practices as different as the "reverse class", "robotics" educational ”, modern languages, orientation or“ escape games ”. No obligation for teachers, only volunteers can claim and be granted or not this validation of competence. Since 2019, 734 teachers have obtained it.
But the context of the coronavirus highlighted this virtual gratification system and caused a stir in national education. “This gesture has no interest and is even a little annoying, gets angry Anthony De Souza, of SNUipp-FSU. Because besides that, there is nothing concrete. We still do not have any additional means to reduce the number of students, to have specialized teachers and we have nothing either in terms of salaries, even though we are among the lowest paid teachers in the European Union. So they can keep them, their digital badges! "
A misunderstanding between teachers and academy
A misunderstanding that regrets Sabrina Caliaros. “I understand that the teachers did not understand the why of the how. They saw it over an extremely punctual time, namely that of the Covid. While this is a construction of peer-to-peer knowledge that we have implemented since 2019. But the fact that they completely changed the way of working from March 16, it seemed important to us to highlight it in the title of this experiment ”, indicates the digital delegate at the Montpellier Academy.
Hence the creation of these four controversial badges which, despite the controversy aroused, have not prevented 100 teachers from having already requested them.
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- Covid 19
- Education
- Teacher
- Confinement
- Fake Off
- National Education
- Society