For the pictures, Gabriel Attal and Nicole Belloubet arrived together at Mathurin-Régnier College in Chartres on Thursday, March 14. The Prime Minister and the Minister of National Education worked with the educational community of the facility in Eure-et-Loir, sitting side by side to participate in a video conference with more than 10,000 school principals. A careful pas de deux of sharing a word, complementing each other without contradicting each other, while their respective communications reveal lingering differences over the course of a week.
“Yes, the level groups will be well set in 6E and at 5E » in French and Mathematics in September was launched by Gabriel Attal, reaffirming his commitment as Minister of National Education in December 2023. Alongside him, Nicole Belloubet assured that he would “totally part of this clash of knowledge” AND “in full agreement with the Prime Minister”, but as she has been required to do since taking office on February 8, she never uttered the term “level group” and preferred the term “required group”.
“When we talk to our education community, the term ‘needs group’ is a better fit for what we want to do. Therefore, in full agreement with the Prime Minister, I use this term instead.excuses Nicole Belloubet, who insists on her “rejection of any social classification”. “What does the name matter if there is measure.” For my part, the name “level group” is clearer for the Frenchassured Gabriel Attal on Wednesday, March 13, in an interview with AFP.
Not unofficial differences
Different communication for different goals: teachers for the former, public opinion for the latter? “Everyone is in their own role, with their own sensitivitywe estimate in those around Gabriel Attal. Nicole Belloubet is an experienced woman who does not let her behavior be dictated. It is also necessary to restore links with education workers and their unions. »
Beneath their innocuous appearance, differences in vocabulary are far from unofficial. Research papers agree on the pernicious consequences of group levels at the general level and on inequalities between students if they are persistent and involve a significant volume of hours.
On the contrary, they show the advantages of temporarily combining students from heterogeneous classes in so-called “needs” groups, provided that the latter are precise and intended to work on very specific skills. “These are two philosophies that collide: the one that Nicole Belloubet is trying to show is acceptable to the educational community, and the philosophy of Gabriel Attal, who firmly holds a position that no one wants.”sums up former rector Alain Boissinot.
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