New school curriculum to focus on Quebec culture, citizenship and critical thinking

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Quebec Education Minister Jean-François Roberge released details Sunday of a curriculum to replace the now-mandatory religious culture and ethics course in the province’s primary and secondary schools.

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The new course will be based on three pillars: Quebec culture, citizenship and dialogue, and the development of critical thinking, the minister said at a press conference in downtown Montreal.

Quebec society faces all kinds of challenges, he said, from spousal violence and the growing and potentially divisive effects of social media to recent reports on issues ranging from racism to the sexual exploitation of minors, and it is time to a course that educates young people. on how to respond to these challenges.

The course on religious ethics and culture, launched by Jean Charest’s liberals in 2008, “was useful for some time, but it has aged poorly,” Roberge said when consultations on the revision of the curriculum began in early 2020.

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The old course was based on the notion that belonging to a religious community defines our identity, but religion is no longer the lens through which we understand Quebec culture, he said.

“It is one of the elements, but it no longer predominates.”

The first pillar of the new curriculum is culture: teaching students about the culture of Quebec society to give them “a broader understanding of the basic concepts and particularities of our society,” said Roberge.

The second pillar is to prepare them “for the practice of Québec citizenship” by learning concepts such as self-respect and respect for others and freedom of expression and the responsibilities that come with it, and learning about the democratic and judicial institutions of Québec, said.

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“Knowing our democratic institutions is important,” said actor and former MNA Pierre Curzi, one of three actors who accompanied Roberge in Sunday’s announcement. It is important to understand them, he said, if you want to criticize them or work to modify them.

As part of the citizenship pillar, students will also learn about topics such as sexual consent and their responsibilities in a digital world.

More and more negative material appears on social media, Roberge said.

“In Quebec we can do better, and the solution is education.”

Quebec actor and writer Dany Turcotte said in the ad that he left the popular Quebec television show Tout le monde en parle due to online hatred.

“It’s like the Wild West on social media,” he said.

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Turcotte quit her 17-year job at TLMEP earlier this year after asking a question she later called “inappropriate” from guest star Mamadi Fara Camara, who had spent six days in jail after being falsely accused of assault. to a police officer.

“Worried about various social media storms over the years, my confidence gradually eroded,” Turcotte wrote. on Facebook at the time.

Education Deputy Minister Isabelle Charest said at the press conference that she is pleased that the new course addresses the issue of sexual consent. Many live their first romantic and sexual relationship in adolescence and “many young people do not have positive role models around them, so it is essential to instill this in them.”

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Actress Ingrid Falaise, who has written and spoken extensively about being a victim of spousal violence and has denounced violence against women, said that spousal violence is “a social problem” and that one of the keys to ending it is violence. education.

“Our young people have to learn the kinds of behaviors that are unacceptable.”

The third pillar of the new course will focus on ethics, dialogue and the development of critical thinking, as students consider cultural, religious and social values ​​and encourage them to limit polarization.

“Living in a democracy is not about never disagreeing, but about being respectful when there is disagreement,” Roberge said.

When asked if the new course reflects the ruling Avenir Québec Coalition party’s vision of a secular state, Roberge responded: “I think this is an unfair criticism.

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“We want to fight against sexism; we want to fight against racism; we want to fight homophobia. We want to introduce Québécois to Québec institutions. I don’t think any reasonable Quebecer can say they have a problem with that. “

The new course is scheduled to begin in all Quebec elementary and secondary schools in the fall of 2023, with a pilot project starting in the fall of 2022. Participation in the pilot project will be voluntary.

“We will go with the teachers who raise their hands to say they want to participate,” said Roberge.

The cost of training teachers in the new curriculum will be about $ 3 million a year for three years, he said, and there will be no new hires.

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