Author: Gaston Ternes

Carte blanche from May 31, 2024 – Our society is collapsing, … and no one realizes it?

Our society is collapsing... and no one realizes it?

Our daily lives are increasingly marked by intolerance, premature judgments, fake news and verbal attacks. Social networks are a daily example of this. No age group is spared. Add to that the hustle, stress and financial worries. Is our entire society slipping...and no one notices? What is the role of politics? Gaston Ternes answers this question in his Carte Blanche.

 

Today's subject is not specifically Luxembourgish, it concerns our so-called "Western" society, the way in which we live together, the way in which politics accompanies it. I am going to choose, from a panoply, 2 very extreme examples, of the way in which politics regulates in the first case, capitulates in the second!

 

Britain has just passed a law to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. Two years ago, Charles III, then still Prince of Wales, called the bill a “terrible idea”. He signed the law as king in late April this year.

 

We are irritated that there are also voices within the European community who accept this inhumane solution. A week ago, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer praised this British “Rwandan model”! How can people who are supposed to represent democratic values make such inhumane decisions? No proponent of this idea is interested in the situation in Rwanda itself, because that country faces its own refugee problem. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees have wanted to return to their country of origin for years. Nobody talks about the dramatic unemployment rate in Rwanda.

 

Let us cite another example very different from the first: the mental health of many children and young people in Western Europe is not good. The children's agitation reverberates throughout the classroom. At school, more and more “specific measures” are necessary to support children with inappropriate behavior. I feel these measures like band-aids, without getting into the real causes.

 

The average age at which children are first exposed to pornographic images is now 10 years old! Access to extremely violent video clips and films is unlimited. All too quickly, children are confronted with social networks, which expose them to the dictatorship of the gaze of others and to destructive criticism. The policy here is “no subscriptions”. It does not regulate.

Over the decades, governments have systematically placed human values behind economic interests. They turned a blind eye to the collateral damage. “Economic growth comes at the price of an intellectual, cultural, psychological and spiritual collapse,” writes the French author Laurent Gounelle very aptly in his recent work “The Wake”. When will we wake up, when will politicians wake up and return to their core business?

“Polis”, from ancient Greek, in the sense of shaping and regulating harmonious coexistence, collective consciousness!

Sustainable learning

Sustainable learning!

 

We talk a lot about quality in education. But what type of content should schools transmit today? Shouldn’t the curriculum be more at the forefront of deliberations? Gaston Ternes answers this question in his Carte Blanche.

 

Information is available everywhere and immediately, both true and false. This is why many skills such as thinking critically, working collaboratively, being able to communicate and being creative are considered particularly important in learning processes.

 

But what about the content, the programs of study in our schools? Are they, in their objectives and content, sufficiently nourished and regularly checked for their meaning and coherence?

 

The quality of education is favored by a context that makes sense for young people. That's what the research says. But what is the reality?

I consulted the current courses and I was quite surprised that an overall vision, beyond the subjects, was still completely lacking!

I could cite a whole range of examples. Let's take just one: At the same period, the fourth grade, an introduction to the history of literature is given in French based on the Middle Ages, in German it goes from the Middle Ages to the Age of Enlightenment, in history it is the Age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution, in English the current world, in artistic education baroque, classicism, romanticism, realism and impressionism are studied.

 

All this for the same 16 year old!

 

In physics, concepts like speed and acceleration are used in third grade, but introduced in mathematics only a year later in second grade. This inconsistency has existed for over 40 years now!

 

Certainly, the didactic considerations of a discipline make sense, but they are not enough: an overall view is missing.

 

Would it not be appropriate to agree on a common approach per year of study, and to shed light on a certain era from the point of view of historical and social events, literature, art, architecture, science?

 

This issue of sustainable learning goes well beyond the initiatives that schools can develop. It is essential to determine the content and concepts that allow today's young people to acquire knowledge that will allow them to succeed in their adult lives. This debate is missing at the national level, but also at the European level. Today, exactly 74 years after May 5, 1949, the date of the creation of the Council of Europe. It brings together 46 states and one of its main objectives is to research, negotiate and coordinate responses to societal challenges. This council has an education department and an education policy division, but its scope does not extend beyond publications on subthemes.

 

What a pity!

For more equal opportunities at school, review the promotion criteria

For more equal opportunities at school, review the promotion criteria!

 

Several international studies show the importance of the influence of a young person's socio-professional environment on their academic success. And when we talk about academic success, promotion criteria automatically come into play. Gaston Ternes, former high school principal and today an expert for the European Schools network, addresses this subject in his carte blanche.

 

The delay in a school career which extends for a year is not only catastrophic for the self-confidence of the young person, but it also has direct consequences on the performance of the entire school system. And yet, grade repetition is still a reality, more than twice as high in Luxembourg as the average for OECD countries.

 

In addition, make-up exams, the aim of which is promotion, are organized by what is called “Holiday work”. It is not uncommon for files impacting the final exam grade to be accompanied by qualified people. Families who cannot afford it are at a disadvantage. A question: don't children who missed the school year for various reasons deserve their vacation just as much as those who have mastered school requirements?

 

A majority of teachers are against repeating a year. However, they are also against automatic promotion, as the current discussion about it in lower general education shows. How can we best support students with academic difficulties?

 

The solution can be described as “integrated educational support”. It should be noted that this is targeted assistance, therefore necessarily differentiated, adapted to the individual needs of the young person during normal school time.

 

Such an initiative requires several stages: a diagnosis with all the stakeholders concerned, the development of an individual project and a regular evaluation of the work.

 

This cannot simply be transferred to regular teaching staff, but must be developed by specialist pedagogues and subject didactics experts who support the teacher. This is an essential criterion for the success of the process. Differentiation in teaching would be done on the basis of application exercises. Co-teaching, successive or simultaneous differentiation, the distribution of groups according to needs or level, are, according to the French specialist in educational sciences Philippe Meirieu, interesting strategies in this regard.

 

The student takes the same tests as the other students. This point is important, because summative evaluations make it possible to situate the young person's level in relation to the class average.

 

It is only in the event of large differences that the school, parents and the young person should consider a reorientation better suited to the young person's talents.

 

The theme of promotion is essential if we want to take another step towards a fairer and more efficient school. A mission to begin directly after the elections, therefore from October 9!

 

Our country needs skilled craftsmen! – Carte blanche from November 25, 2022 on RTL

It is an affirmation that everyone today signs with both hands, here in the country and also abroad. But it hardly goes beyond this observation. How to promote practical teaching? What priorities should be set in school reforms? Gaston Ternes addresses this question today in his carte blanche.

 

Yes, our country needs skilled craftsmen! This is an acute and widespread problem at home and abroad. Companies have a massive shortage of qualified personnel. This makes me think of the famous phrase by American researcher Michael Huberman: “Everything has been said, everything remains to be done”.

There are initiatives in schools to bring young people closer to crafts and entrepreneurship. But these remain isolated initiatives such as internships, information days on careers, company interventions in classes. There is, however, a lack of continuity.

An upgrade of practical training is, in my opinion, linked to 3 conditions:

First, the choice of vocational subjects should not be made on the basis of failure in languages and mathematics. This is why we need “schools for all students”. “Inclusion” is the key word, not “segmentation” or early specialization. At the same time, this means an upgrading of programs in professional training: Would it not be important to offer students subjects in the fields of culture, art and social issues?

Secondly, each student, from primary school to the end of secondary school, should have a wide range of “practical” lessons available to them, in order to be able to test their talent and desire from the start. Finally and above all to also learn the gestures and know-how that we need on a daily basis, whether in private or professional life.

Third, the absurd opposition between “manual” and “intellectual” should be immediately stopped. Today, a farmer has to understand how the ecosystem works and I only trust a surgeon if I am sure he is also good at manual work! The hierarchy that thrives in people's minds between different artisanal specialties is also absurd. Whatever the specialty, what matters in the end is the quality of the execution!

This is why it is important to allow each child, each young person, a real immersion in craft activity.

It is commendable that UNESCO, in its GEQAF program “General Education System Quality Analysis/Diagnosis Framework”, has recently made this question of an adapted curriculum a central theme. There are good reasons to believe that this is where the answers to the education crisis lie.

How much money does a young person need in Luxembourg to live independently – Letter to a young self-employed person (Carte blanche from July 8, 2022 on RTL)

How much money does a young person need to live independently in Luxembourg? Letter to a young independent.

We have been writing and talking about the “middle class bump” for 30 years. But nothing happened, except perhaps in the wrong direction: the contribution rate for the health fund increased and the tax scale was no longer adapted to inflation. It is young people with independent status who are most concerned. In this carte blanche, Gaston Ternes makes a calculation that should motivate any politician to action.

 

You are young and after studying a master's degree abroad - in accordance with the clearly stated wishes of the political world - you chose the status of independent. After three years, you can now claim a gross annual salary of 45,000 euros or 3,750 euros per month. So you are part of the middle class in Luxembourg!

You must pay compulsory social security contributions on your salary, for pension, health insurance, long-term insurance and accident, all up to 24.63% or 924 euros per month.

So you have 2,826 euros per month left, or not…

You have to pay taxes. In your case, 5,226 euros per year and 2.5 % or 365 euros contribution to the Employment Fund. So, in total, 5,591 euros per year or 466 euros per month. Did you know that the tax scale is tiered in such a way that the marginal rate for 45,000 euros is already practically at the maximum?

So you have 2,360 euros per month left, or not…

Your university studies lead you to have to repay, during the first ten years, 640 euros per month to your bank for a loan that the State made available to you.

So you have 1,720 euros per month left, or not…

For your accommodation, you pay rent of 1,250 euros and 250 euros in charges, which is rather moderate for Luxembourg.

So you have 220 euros per month left to live on.

The idea of using a car for your business trips is out of the question for obvious reasons. You must refuse contracts because it is not possible for you to go from point A to point B in a reasonable time.

To eat and drink, you have 18 euros left per day! It is not possible to think of additional insurance with the Employers' Mutuality – with a minimum contribution of 1.13% on your gross salary – so that you are not only compensated from the 77th day in the event of illness or 'accident!

Dear young independent! I dream that we have deputies who quickly become sensitive and active for your situation. Here is a possible solution: social security contributions and taxes paid during the first ten years would only be calculated on 50% of your gross income. This time the reason would not be the same as for the deputies, but compensation so that you can live decently in our country.

Education and the Metaverse: Where are we going? (carte blanche of February 18, 2022)

Education and metaverse, where are we going?

“Metaverse” is growing at a breakneck pace around the world, including in Luxembourg. Are we living today in an era similar to that when the Internet very quickly conquered the field? And what does this mean for education? This is the question that Gaston Ternes addresses in his carte blanche.

 

The prefix “meta” means “beyond” and “verse” refers to “universe”. Experts describe the metaverse as the next quantum leap towards Internet 4.0, 3D virtual spaces linked together, giving us a personal universe. Technologies such as cryptocurrencies, blockchain as a ledger, 5G networks and the exponential growth of simulation software are already virtual spaces that shape our daily lives.

Our smartphone would be replaced within 5 to 10 years by holograms, headsets and glasses which would give us access to our personal universe, “everything, all the time, everywhere”. New compelling content is available to us, interactive, collaborative, immersive in a world where digital and physical merge.

As is often the case, technology is both an opportunity and a trap. Social media has already turned our world upside down. The impact of the Metaverse will be incomparably greater. The question is whether, this time, we do not want to prepare ourselves better for the new reality than at the time of the invasion by social media. Who will also govern this universe? Will they always be big companies that want to make money above all? We would do well to discuss as a society what the Metaverse of the future should look like.

For education, Metaverse of course offers a great opportunity: active and adapted to everyone, it is easy to immerse yourself in the content you wish to acquire, repetitions are possible at any time, you can learn in small bites; these are the components that neuroscience research qualifies as effective in the learning process.

Technology in itself is not bad, but it is the use we make of it that is decisive: do we have control over our lives or are we only controlled and remote-controlled?

One thing is certain: no one knows what 2050 will look like! As Yuval Harari says so well in his “21 lessons for the 21st century”: “The only constant is change”. Humanity is facing unprecedented revolutions. How can we prepare ourselves and our children for this? The 4 “C” skills “thinking critically, communicating, cooperating and being creative” are certainly important. But Harari recognizes another as particularly important: It is “the ability to resist change, learn new things and maintain mental balance in unusual situations.”

“Democracy Day” – Carte blanche of November 5, 2021

From 2022, an “Annual Democracy Day” will be celebrated in October in all secondary schools in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Already since 2021, interested schools have had the opportunity to organize such a day. In his Carte Blanche, Gaston Ternes addresses the question of democracy at school.

A primary school teacher asked the children to draw a memory of their vacation. A child tried to draw on her arm. The teacher asked her why she didn't want to draw on her paper and the answer was prompt: “Madam, I want to protect the trees! ".
For me, this reaction is not an isolated case. In my professional environment, I have repeatedly observed that the awareness and interest of children and adolescents in nature and the environment, as well as in political and social issues, have evolved in a positive way. We have the prospect of a generation of critical and engaged citizens who do not hesitate to defend their points of view.
The initiative of the Center for Citizenship Education to institutionalize a democracy day in all secondary schools therefore seems commendable to me. Three main areas are envisaged: Discussing the functioning of democracy and society, questioning and developing democratic school culture, electing a student council for the high school every two years.
What does “educate for democracy” mean? In his recent book “What school can still do for democracy”, the French professor and pedagogue Philippe Meirieu explains that the objective is to promote both the ability to think autonomously and critically, and the ability to listen and seek consensus or solutions.
The two paths are not mutually exclusive: “autonomous thinking” consists of abolishing preconceived ideas, analyzing points of view to verify their accuracy. Secondly, this means being willing to share your own point of view with others. European initiatives such as the “Model European Parliament” or the “European Parliament Ambassador School” in high schools have contributed for many years to this development of democratic thought.
Democracy in All Schools Day should create new impetus for the daily practice of democracy in schools and for better learning together.
Learning based on mutual aid and solidarity, in which young people, accompanied by teachers, do not compete but discover the strengths of tolerance, seems essential to me.
Given that young people today do not hesitate to express their opinions on all societal challenges, it is crucial that these opinions are consolidated, weighted and founded, otherwise they risk drowning in a sea of slogans, fake news and simplistic statements.

Carte blanche of June 16, 2021: A subject that is not unknown: inequalities in education

Since the Pisa studies, that is to say since 2000, we know what types of children are students at risk: Children from immigrant backgrounds and/or from socio-economically disadvantaged families. With the pandemic, this problem has become even more acute. In his “Carte blanche”, Gaston Ternes examines the possibilities for action on this issue.

It is no surprise that the “Luxembourg Center for Educational Testing” (LUCET) at the University of Luxembourg drew attention to the inequalities of the Luxembourg school system in its recent report on education monitoring. This declaration is also supported by the National Observatory of School Quality. In particular, listening comprehension competence in the German language has declined significantly, due to the fact that during the pandemic, young people with a migrant background have had little or no contact with the German language. And for digital home education to be successful, strong parental involvement is necessary.

The solutions currently being implemented are, overall, the following: more German lessons during the third and last school term in primary schools, as well as the proposal of a "summer school" of 14 days before classes resume in mid-September. This seems to be a drop in the ocean.

An effective approach to the problem of inequity of opportunities must be based on two pillars: it is part of continuity and the effectiveness of the measure is regularly evaluated.

Equity in education extends well beyond the school itself. A first step would be much better networking of existing teaching and support structures. It is important to identify the barriers that currently make access difficult for families.

Thinking about equity automatically means offering a maximum of possibilities in the school itself so that these possibilities are accessible to each learner. As an example, it would be useful to have a committee in the school which, in close contact with the family, can react quickly and flexibly to any situation. To meet this challenge, the school needs additional human resources.

The school system itself should be completely restructured; he should select much later, because early separation limits the young person's abilities and makes good orientation difficult.

Linguistic support in German and French is the “alpha and omega” of academic success in the Luxembourg school system. School initiatives that offer, for example, personalized language support by adapting the individual learner's timetable, within the 30 hours per week, should not only work in some schools, but across the country. .

And what about the introduction of a compulsory program limited to 25 hours per week at all levels of primary and secondary education, and 5 hours that can be scheduled on an optional basis to meet the needs and talents of students? The pandemic showed us the way by forcing us to focus on the essentials of the program.

These are just a few suggestions. Are they not reason enough for a real educational offensive?

Carte blanche of March 8, 2021 The challenge of multilingualism at school

The challenge of multilingualism at school
Luxembourg is characterized by a multilingual and multicultural environment, the likes of which are rarely found abroad. In terms of school provision, there is today a clear trend to resolve the difficulty of this heterogeneity through international, European or private school structures, focused on a specific language. Are we not missing a great opportunity for an inclusive national school offer? In this carte blanche, Gaston Ternes talks about the subject.

Our advantage so far has been that in our small country we have learned German, French and English languages at a high level. It is an asset for our schools that there are on average around fifty different mother tongues spoken at home. The schools in the Luxembourg national school system are therefore, by their very nature, all “international schools”. However, this richness also has its drawbacks: Researchers regularly point out that too many students are not up to the high demands of our language teaching and therefore do not make sufficient progress in learning other subjects.
Unable to meet these ambitious demands, young people undergo two regulatory mechanisms: Repeat class or move to a less demanding structure, general or preparatory education. The first measure of grade repetition has long been deemed completely ineffective in scientific studies on the subject. The second measure is also bad: due to a lack in one language, one is downgraded overall and deprived of possible performance in other subjects.
A child who repeats a year costs the State around 45,000 euros in secondary education and 25,000 euros in primary education. This is a lot of money that would have been better invested in in-depth reflection on our language teaching.
Why aren't we tackling this problem? After all, we can count on many school initiatives. We have enough studies that indicate possible solutions. We can draw on the experience of teachers who face language challenges on a daily basis. However, the framework is unfortunately too narrow to allow effective solutions.
The answers lie in the didactics of language teaching, in the importance of learning the language in its context, in the motivation to learn a foreign language because one needs it in one's environment. In this sense, language teaching must be rebuilt from the ground up, that is, from primary school to the baccalaureate. As an example, languages could be offered with different accentuations and levels. We absolutely must give our language teachers a common voice in national working groups and thus define a new framework!
Foreign languages are essential for citizens who want to work together across borders. The answers to this great challenge cannot therefore be limited to offering ever more specific language study programs.

The challenge of multilingualism - carte blanche RTL March 8, 2021

At the heart of multilingualism at school.

Luxembourg is characterized by a multilingual and multicultural environment, the likes of which are rarely found abroad. In terms of school provision, there is today a clear trend to resolve the challenge of this heterogeneity through international, European or private school structures, focused on a specific language. Are we not missing a great opportunity for inclusive national school provision? Gaston Ternes talks about language teaching in this carte blanche.

Our advantage so far has been that in our small country we have learned German, French and English languages at a high level. It is an asset for our schools that there are on average around fifty different mother tongues spoken at home. The schools in the Luxembourg national school system are therefore, by their very nature, all “international schools”. However, this richness also has its drawbacks: Researchers regularly point out that too many students are not up to the high demands of our language teaching and therefore do not make sufficient progress in learning other subjects.
Unable to meet these ambitious demands, young people undergo two regulatory mechanisms: Repeat class or move to a less demanding structure, general or preparatory education. The first measure of grade repetition has long been deemed completely ineffective in scientific studies on the subject. The second measure is also bad: due to a certain lack in a language, we are downgraded overall and deprived of possible performance in other subjects.
A child who repeats a year costs the State around 45,000 euros in secondary education and 25,000 euros in primary education. This is a lot of money that would have been better spent on in-depth reflection on our language teaching.
Why aren't we tackling this problem? After all, we can count on many school initiatives. We have enough studies that indicate possible solutions. We can draw on the experience of teachers who face language challenges on a daily basis. However, the framework is unfortunately too narrow to allow effective solutions.
The answers lie in the didactics of language teaching, in the importance of learning the language in its context, in the motivation to learn a foreign language because one needs it in one's environment. In this sense, language teaching must be rebuilt from the ground up, that is, from primary school to the baccalaureate. As an example, languages could be offered with different accentuations and levels. We absolutely must give our language teachers a common voice in national working groups and thus define a new framework!
Foreign languages are essential for citizens who want to work together across borders. The answers to this great challenge cannot therefore be limited to offering ever more specific language study programs.