Quebec’s teachers shortage has been exacerbated by educators being physically assaulted by special-needs students who are in crisis but lack support, says Lori Newton, president of the Montreal Teachers Association.
“It used to be we were talking about high school teachers breaking up a fight after school or in the cafeteria,” said Newton, whose association represents teachers at the English Montreal School Board.
“Now we’re talking [about] four-year-olds and five-year-olds who, for all kinds of reasons, are not [having their needs] met effectively at school. And these young children are lashing out in very physical ways.”
Some teachers have gotten concussions or taken leaves to recover — creating more empty spots for school boards to fill.
And many of the individuals stepping into their places are not professionally trained to teach. Quebec is increasingly reliant on uncredentialed teachers to address its chronic shortage of professionally-qualified ones, Canadian Affairs reported last September.
“We’re putting these particularly fragile new teachers in situations that even more experienced teachers were struggling with,” said Newton. “So it becomes a bit of a vicious circle.”
‘Didn’t change anything’
Quebec’s teaching staff shortage totaled about 5,700 in early August, and remains at about 1,950 spots as the first week of school comes to a close.
In June, the province attempted to reduce the shortage by moving up the date by which teachers must be hired by school boards, from late August to Aug. 8.
Quebec’s Education Minister Bernard Drainville says the earlier date helped reduce the shortage, which last year totaled 8,500.
But the move has not ended the crisis, says Stephan Ethier, president of the Laurier Teachers Union, which represents about 1,400 teachers in districts north of Montreal.
“It didn’t change anything. It did not change anything at all,” Ethier said.
Richard Bergevin, president of the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement, agrees. “In reality, it does not create new teachers,” said Bergevin, whose federation is a coalition of 34 unions representing 87,000 teachers.
Many teachers resign at the end of August — due to sickness or pregnancy, for example — creating last-minute vacancies that boards must try to fill.
“Mid-August into September seems to be a prime time for those sudden resignations, and it’s like the human resources departments can’t hardly keep up,” said Newton.
And staff shortages persist throughout the year, Bergevin says. “We will have a lack of people at any moment during the year.”
“There are seasons where it’s worse than others. There are often specialties that are really hard to staff,” said Newton. “[A]s ironic as it may seem, it really is difficult for the English school boards in Quebec to recruit French teachers.”
Quebec is also facing increased demand for teachers, with more than 20,000 new students enrolled in the public school system this year, partly due to migration.
A question of conditions
The profession can best address the teachers shortage by doing more to attract and retain existing workers, sources say.
“There is no single simple solution to any of it. It’s not a question of salary. It’s a question of working conditions,” says Newton.
Faculties of education in the province have also seen relatively low enrolment in recent years, she says. But the province’s need for teachers has resulted in some programs accepting candidates who are less qualified, Newton says.
“We’re seeing cases of student teachers really struggling, but being kept in the program,” she said. “That’s not necessarily setting up these new teachers to be successful when they really have been struggling or weren’t great candidates to begin with.”
Educators with more experience are then tasked with helping the less qualified and non-credentialed teachers, which adds to their workload, says Bergevin.
“It really is something … to see these older career teachers also burning out in the same ways that new teachers [are],” said Newton. “[They’re] trying to do it all and not necessarily having the skills or being equipped to do so.”
Teachers also have to contend with a shortage of support staff, such as special education technicians. Managing different students’ needs while also trying to get through the curriculum can take a toll.
“It is a huge psychological burden sometimes for teachers to know what they would like to do and what children deserve, yet not see[ing] those needs getting met,” said Newton.
A workplace that can tend to the needs of teachers is critical, she says. Currently, there are even cases where teachers who have been hurt on the job are being ignored.
“We’re still hearing from teachers who say, ‘Well, my principal says it’s a child with special needs. I need to just suck it up and deal with it — it’s not high schoolers fighting, it’s a child with special needs, so too bad, so sad.”
