Characteristics and contributions of school subjects at the elementary level: results of a survey of pre‐service elementary teachers from four Québec universities

Abstract

This article presents the results of a survey questionnaire involving 841 third and fourth year students enrolled in a French language Bachelors degree program in Elementary Education at four Quebec universities. The questionnaire dealt with pre‐service elementary teachers’ representations of the teaching and learning of four school subjects: Mathematics, Language Arts, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. The results show, among other things, that the curricular reform that reconfigures the contribution of the different school subjects is rarely mentioned in the pre‐service teachers’ discourse on their teaching practice.

Keywords:

• curricular reform
• elementary teaching
• school subjects
• educational aims
• status of knowledge
• learning process
• cross‐curricular competencies

Notes

1. The Quebec Education Program for kindergarten, elementary and first cycle secondary identifies five broad areas of learning: Health and Wellbeing, Personal and Career Planning, Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities, Media Literacy, Citizenship and Community Life.

2. The term savoir‐agir in French could be translated as knowledge to act, meaning the ability to use in an appropriate way various resources that are internal as well as external, and notably those that are acquired in an educational context, as well as those that are the outcome of everyday life (Quebec Government 2001). In the present Quebec curriculum, this knowledge to act is often associated with competencies.

3. In the Quebec Education Program, cross‐curricular competencies are defined as certain skills involve[ing] more than one subject‐specific competency and can only be taken into account if a context is associated with them.

4. The French version of the Quebec curriculum refers to “compétences transversales” which translates as “transversal competencies” whereas the English version refers to “cross‐curricular” competencies.

5. The specific and disciplinary competencies refer to know‐how related to each of the school subjects. They are directly related to the procedures and knowledge of a particular school subject.

6. In the new Quebec Education Program, the expression “essential knowledges” is used to designate particular contents that are considered absolutely necessary components, and are consequently incorporated into different programs which make up the curriculum (for example, climate, economic activities in the Social Sciences program). These essential knowledges must be the subject of a learning unit and contribute to the development of competencies.

7. In order to avoid confusion between subject and object, we will use “subject” in reference to the whole discipline of study (Mathematics, Science) and “object” to refer to contents studied by the subject (numbers are an object of study in Mathematics).

8. In the Quebec education system an educational aim (finalité éducative) is defined as a statement of principles, which shows the general orientation of the philosophy, the conceptions and the values of a group of people, resources and activities (Legendre 2005).