Page 38 | Autumn 2022 Hard work and a little luck continued
environment is important . Some students flourished online but I think the majority did not and it did have consequences on language skills a little bit . We see the effect now with the internships ; some students are in the classroom for the first time , and they are facing challenges that they haven ’ t met before ," says Jean .
Yet , the flip side of the challenges was the highlight for Jean : " There ' s a good side : I finished my mandate , and my thanks to the faculty who trusted me enough to choose me as the director . That is important to me . It is hard work , but it is important , and I believe the work was done decently . This is certainly a highlight ."
Looking back , Jean remembers other interesting challenges / highlights : " When we did the program review , finishing it in 2006 / 07 with Bernard Laplante as director , that was challenging ; that was interesting . We were looking at courses and programs , we tried to find a perfect mix of compulsory courses and electives and all that . We had language tests . Le Bac had good quality programs and we were growing . By 2019 , le Bac had grown from 75 students to 166 , but our resources didn ’ t follow so we had to be a little bit more modest and cap ourselves at 140 ."
Reflecting further on the growth and changes he has seen in le Bac over the years , Jean says , " The first cohort of students going through the 4-year elementary French education program started in ' 83 . They did their second year at Université Laval in Quebec City . From the beginning , that ‘ immersion year ’ was important . In ' 91 , we created a secondary French education program . For le Bac , immigration really changed things around 2010 . Francophone newcomers who wanted to become teachers came with individualized needs , and we had to adapt the program to help them achieve their goals . There is also a big difference between 2000 and 2020 in our approach to students . Recruiting and retaining students has become a survival issue , and we now do everything we can to recruit and keep students , which becomes a lot of extra work . In le Bac , we do tutorials to prepare students , we have really personalized services , small classes , and a team in Quebec City that follows them during their second year . The director goes to see the students in Quebec City each year and the deans are in touch with each other . We are trying to find alternatives to ensure every student who can be successful , is successful . This is also part of the Faculty ' s philosophy ."
What Jean has learned over the years is that what matters in www2 . uregina . ca / education / news