• The philosophy paper will open the 2021 session of the new formula baccalaureate on Thursday morning.

  • A test maintained despite the sanitary situation, but improved.

  • Changes that do not please philosophy teachers, who fear that the test will be "emptied of its substance".

The flagship test of the baccalaureate may lose some of its splendor this year.

The written philosophy will open the 2021 session of the new formula bac on Thursday morning, but it has been adapted to take into account the disturbances in high schools caused by the health crisis.

Because since November, many students follow distance learning or in half-groups.

This did not allow them to prepare as well as their elders.

To reduce the pressure, the ministry decided that there would be four subjects to choose from, instead of three.

The icing on the cake: it is the best mark which will be retained, between that obtained in the test and that of the continuous control, on condition of having returned its copy.

Benevolence vs folklore

A jump ball defended by Jean-Michel Blanquer: “What seemed important to me was to maintain a terminal event. At the same time, this year, we must have had a particular kindness given the situation ”. But this half-fig, half-grape solution does not work with philosophy teachers. “To maintain a test emptied of its substance is folklore, media display. Because the students have done their calculations: they already know whether they will have their baccalaureate or not. And if this is the case, they believe they do not need to grab a few more points, ”says Nicolas Franck, president of the Association of Philosophy Teachers of Public Education.

“This system is demotivating and besides, the majority of the candidates did not revise.

In their head, they are on vacation.

Only the most advantaged students who are pushed by their parents have done so, or those who really had bad grades during the year, ”explains

Jeanne, a philosophy teacher in Marseille

, to

20 Minutes

.

But there is no question for the pupils to dry out completely: "If a pupil does not go to the test, without proof, it is 0 and there is no possibility of recourse to the continuous control", warned Edouard Geffray , the director general of school education (Dgesco).

"We have the impression of having become providers of good grades"

But this is not the only point that annoys: the fact that all the pupils did not have the same chances from the beginning of the year also irritates the teachers. “There is considerable inequality in the preparation for the event. In some establishments, they had lessons every day and in others, the year was chaotic, the students or their philosophy teacher having fallen ill, the lessons having been massively remote, the white bins not having been organized, ”says Nicolas Franck. “And when we find ourselves in front of an anonymous copy, it will be impossible for us to know the student's learning conditions this year. Which makes a fair evaluation impossible on our part and will generate a breach of equality, ”Judge Jeanne.

Another bone of contention with the rue de Grenelle: the benevolent instructions received by the teachers.

“We have the impression of having become providers of good grades.

It would have been necessary to lighten the program, to announce that we were going to double the number of test subjects from the fall, so that we can prepare the students serenely and that we have a real terminal test ”, criticizes Nicolas Franck.

"I fear that many candidates will leave the room after an hour"

Finally, the digitization of the copies of the baccalaureate to be corrected on a computer, implemented for the first time this year, makes the teachers growl: “When we correct copies, we must be able to compare them, classify them, to adjust the grading. It's impossible on screen, ”says Nicolas Franck. “We have to correct the copies on screen, but the ministry also offers to print them if that helps us. It is at the same time absurd and not very ecological ”, criticizes Jeanne.

Based on these observations, the philosophy teachers fear that Thursday's test will turn into a play: “I fear that many candidates will leave the room after an hour.

And that some participate in the contest launched by high school students on social networks, which consists of making the copy as fun as possible.

This would completely destroy the solemn aspect of the bac and give us the impression of working for nothing, ”says Nicolas Franck.

Meetings of teachers have taken place in some high schools to imagine a form of protest.

And the SNES-FSU filed a strike notice from the start of the trials to the end.

Even if the movement is unlikely to be followed, a good part of philosophy teachers will end the year with a feeling of weariness.

Society

Grand oral of the bac: Voice, posture, stress management ... Advice from an expert to pass the test

Health

Coronavirus: Mask, distancing… What will be the health rules to be respected during the 2021 bac?

  • Philosophy

  • BAC

  • Education

  • High school

  • Society