CHANGES IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION

Abstract

The past decade witnessed a great number of changes in the teaching profession in Quebec. Numbers increased, qualifications improved, and there was a trend toward the laicization of the profession. Teachers now enjoy security, salaries, fringe benefits, rights of consultation, and working conditions that were only dreamed of by their predecessors in the fifties. Yet there remains a deepening malaise in the profession. Some of the factors contributing to this malaise were the recommendations of the Parent Report, changes in the characteristics of the teaching force, centralization of negotiations and its impact on teacher organization, financial stress, and the rapid bureaucratization of the Department of Education. A brief consideration of these factors may give some insight into the present status and future direction of the profession in the Province.