We are pleased to announce that a team of researchers (Geneviève Baril-Gingras, François Bolduc, Jean-Noël Grenier and Catherine LeCapitaine), all professors in the Department of Industrial Relations at Université de Laval and members of CRIMT, has been awarded two grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) as part of the “Partnership Engage” program.
The first, entitled The Teaching Profession in the Age of Covid-19: What Changes? [Unofficial translation] involves a partnership with the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE-CSQ) in a project that seeks to better understand the nature of the changes in the daily work activity of Quebec teachers in the era of COVID-19 and their consequences on the professional identities of teachers, the majority of whom are women. The pandemic – which has profoundly changed the way schools operate – is so recent and unprecedented that little is known about the experience and conditions of teachers’ work in this new context.
The second project, entitled The Teaching Profession in the Era of
Covid-19: What Changes in English School Boards in Quebec? [Unofficial translation] involves a partnership with the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers, which represents the interests of 8,000 teachers – mostly women – who work in English school boards in Quebec. This project is in the same context as the one conducted in partnership with the FSE-CSQ.
These two projects have two main objectives: 1) to conduct an assessment of the changes in the work of elementary school teachers in the context of the pandemic; 2) to identify the positive and negative effects of these changes on the professional identities of teachers.
In addition to the use of an electronic questionnaire addressing the nature of the changes in the schools and teachers’ experiences of the changes, focus groups will validate the results of the survey.
The results of the research will be used to guide future reflection and action to enable the two union organizations concerned to adapt their mission to promote the interests and rights of teachers. They will also allow these two organizations to make their voices heard in the struggle for the valorization of the teaching profession.
Congratulations to the members of this research team.
