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Le personnel enseignant non légalement qualifié dans la francophonie canadienne et internationale

Matthieu Josselin, Alice Fomen and Laurie Carlson Berg

Dynamiques et déterminants des parcours du personnel non légalement qualifié au Québec

Manon Beaudoin, Nancy Granger and Anne Lessard
In a context of teacher shortages, several education systems, including that of Quebec, are hiring individuals who are not legally qualified to teach, and whose professional integration remains poorly documented. Drawing on the trajectory method proposed by Loisy, this study is based on semi-structured interviews with 24 individuals, exploring their reasons for entering the teaching profession, their perception of how they were received and their intention to pursue this career. The results indicate that most had dreamed about teaching for a long time, and that being hired rekindled this aspiration. Others mention their desire to contribute to student success or to meet the needs of the school system. Their reception appears varied: some benefit from meaningful support, while others experience a sense of exclusion. A lack of familiarity with procedures and how the school system operates increases the need for guidance. These experiences have varying influences on their intention to continue teaching. In this sense, exploring support mechanisms, professional trajectories, and organizational practices seems essential for reconciling the management of teacher shortages with requirements for quality and equity in education systems.

Le personnel enseignant non détenteur d’un brevet d’enseignement au Québec : portrait statistique d’un groupe professionnel hétérogène

Geneviève Sirois and Deborah Torquato-Schimidt
To address urgent staffing needs in the context of a teacher shortage, Quebec has increasingly been hiring individuals who do not hold a teaching certificate and are thus not legally qualified for the job. They more than doubled in number between 2015 and 2021. Despite their presence at all levels of the education system across Quebec, little is known about the characteristics of this professional group. Drawing on data collected through a survey of 471 unlicensed teachers employed during the 2023–2024 school year, this article offers potential answers to the following questions: What are their sociodemographic and educational profiles? What professional pathways led them to teaching? What are the characteristics of their roles as teachers? Our findings reveal a significant percentage of individuals who were already working in the education field before becoming teachers, along with a variety of other entry pathways, including a substantial number of individuals who started teaching with an immediate full-time contract.

Les besoins exprimés par les personnes enseignantes non-détentrices de brevet en insertion professionnelle dans une école secondaire au Centre de services scolaire des Mille-Îles, et les ressources facilitant leur insertion professionnelle

France Paquette, Brigitte Gagnon and Sylvie Normandeau
In Quebec, a teacher shortage is affecting the education sector, and many new staff members do not hold a teaching certificate. They require significant support from administration and colleagues, particularly during their first year of teaching, renowned for being the most challenging. It is important to identify the needs of unlicensed teachers, and resources they would consider useful in facilitating their professional insertion and promoting job retention. As part of our professional doctorate, an initial doctoral project, which aimed to identify and understand the professional situation of these teachers, answered the following question: What resources do unlicensed teachers use to meet their needs in their first year of teaching high school within a school service centre? The answer emerged from data collected through a perception questionnaire, followed by a clarifying interview. Using these results, this service centre and its schools can now plan innovative strategies to support the insertion of unlicensed teachers in ways that meet their needs and promote job retention.

Être enseignant non légalement qualifié au Cameroun : profils, recrutement, intégration et vécu

Joseph Bomda, Mireille Michée Mveme Olougou, Gilbert Willy Tio Babena, Pasma Moluh Ngbayou, Saliou Adamou Souaibou and Mohammadou Nourou
This article analyzes the profiles, recruitment methods, integration processes and socio-professional experiences of unlicensed teaching personnel (UTP) in Cameroon. In addition to documentary research and a literature review, the study initially draws on individual semi-structured interviews with 101 teachers from five French-speaking regions and ten departments, with focus on personal and professional trajectories. In a second phase, 19 school administrators reviewed the findings and contributed to their interpretation. Five focus groups were also formed, with key respondents representing each of the teacher profiles identified. The cross-analysis of narratives and experiential knowledge, guided by participants’ situational perspectives, brings out seven UTP profiles in Cameroon. Regardless of profile, all were recruited either through application reviews, peer network referrals, or recommendations. The majority of their professional integration and lived experiences seem laborious and disempowering, revealing structural organizational and social injustice at the root of workplace distress likely to have a lasting impact on their well-being.

Le statut paradoxal des enseignants et enseignantes FRAM dans l’éducation malgache : entre légitimité de terrain et reconnaissance légale

Narimbolatiana Randrianarison
This study examines the paradoxical status of FRAM teachers (Fikambanana Ray aman-dReny Mpianatra, or Parents’ Association) in the Malagasy education system. Through a literature review of legislative texts and official statistics from the Ministry of National Education, complemented by interviews with various education stakeholders, this study analyzes the gap between these teachers’ legitimacy in the field of education and their lack of legal recognition. The results reveal that FRAM teachers represent 44.1% of the teaching staff (2023-2024), playing a crucial role, particularly in rural areas and at the primary level (51.4%). The analysis reveals three major paradoxes: legal invisibility despite actual omnipresence, contradictory legal requirements, and the perpetuation of the system despite its official prohibition.

La diversification du corps enseignant à la croisée d’enjeux de rétention et de professionnalité

Thibault Coppe, Joséphine Mukamurera and Xavier Coppe
Due to a shortage of teaching staff, many education systems have relaxed their requirements for access to the profession, which has led to a massive trend toward diversification of the teaching workforce. This paper examines the effects of this shifting landscape in relation to two major issues: teacher retention and workforce professionalism. The article offers both a conceptual framework and contextual illustrations drawn from French-speaking Belgium and from Quebec. The cross-analysis highlights that second-career teachers and unlicensed teachers show significantly higher attrition rates than their counterparts from traditional trajectories. Their growing proportion in the teaching workforce has also sparked lively debate and is often perceived as contributing to the deprofessionalization of teaching.

Personnel enseignant non légalement qualifié et acquis des apprentissages dans les pays d’Afrique subsaharienne francophone : une analyse à partir du modèle linéaire hiérarchique des données du PASEC

Jean-Baptiste M. B. Sanfo
Although teacher training is recognized as a key lever for ensuring quality education, the number of unlicensed teaching personnel (UTP) in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa is significant and persistent. This study aims to analyze the correlation between UTP status and student learning outcomes, and to explore variations in this correlation between rural and urban settings in PASEC countries. It is based on a hierarchical linear model analysis of 2019 PASEC data. The analysis shows contrasting results depending on the country and subject area. The findings indicate that UTP status is often associated with lower learning outcomes, especially in Benin, Congo, Madagascar, and Chad, where negative and statistically significant correlations were observed. The analysis also reveals that the influence of UTP may vary according to the geographical context, with statistically significant differences between students in rural and urban schools in Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire. It is therefore imperative to invest in initial teacher training and implement targeted strategies for greater equity in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa education systems.

Personnel enseignant non légalement qualifié et qualité des apprentissages en Afrique subsaharienne francophone : profils, conditions d’exercice et effets sur les performances en mathématiques

Alexis Salvador Loye, Ph. D, Noaga Dieudonné Kaboré, Nambihanla Emmanuel Ouoba, Chercheur associé and Emile Ouédraogo
This article examines the use of unlicensed teaching personnel (UTP) in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, in a context of a global teacher shortage and international efforts to increase the number of qualified teaching personnel (QTP). Drawing on PASEC 2019 data, the study describes the sociodemographic and economic profile of UTP, documents their professional experiences, and assesses their effects on the mathematics performance of students finishing primary school. The sample includes 599 teachers and 10,095 students. Descriptive statistical analyses and binary logistic regression models are used. The results show that approximately one in five teachers is not legally qualified. UTP are more frequently hired in the private sector and experience salary irregularities. They often report a lack of school supplies. However, the proportion of students performing well in mathematics is similar to that of students taught by QTP. The effects on learning are nuanced. Student performance is influenced by the age, level of education, salary regularity, resource availability, certain professional relationships and professional development training of the UTP. The article concludes that UTP ensure the continuity of educational services but highlights risks of system fragility and calls for further research, particularly qualitative studies, on UTP practices and career paths.

Cartographie des répercussions du recours au personnel enseignant non légalement qualifié en contexte scolaire minoritaire franco-ontarien : rapport de discussions de praticiens et chercheurs enracinés dans le milieu

Matthieu Josselin, Alice Fomen, Monique Ménard and Laurie Carlson Berg
This article explores the systemic consequences of employing unlicensed teaching personnel (UTP) in Ontario, Canada’s French-language schools, due to an ongoing shortage of legally qualified teachers. This shortage, exacerbated by inadequate policies, mainly affects French-speaking minority communities (FMCs), including those in Ontario, where schools play a crucial role in preserving the language, culture and identity. Although this stopgap measure is becoming commonplace, its impacts on educational quality and equity are under-documented. Using a practitioner-researcher approach and grounded theory methodology, the authors propose a substantive typology of these repercussions. An iterative and collective analysis combines their varied experiences in the Franco-Ontarian school system with a theoretical perspective. The results highlight the major pedagogical, organizational, and reputational effects of relying on UTP, such as increasing the workload of school principals and weakening services, team stability and the confidence of families, especially in remote areas. This growing phenomenon of institutionalization exposes UTP to significant employment instability and jeopardizes educational quality, while also illustrating the normalization of the deprofessionalization of teaching.