Professional Competencies for Teachers
In 2020, the Quebec Ministry of Education released a document titled, Référentiel de compétences Professionnelles Profession enseignante. In 2021, this document was translated into English. The name of the translated document is Reference Framework for Professional Competencies for Teachers. What follows is a brief summary of the document. We encourage you to refer back to the Ministry documents for further information.
The Reference Framework for Professional Competencies for Teachers serves as a guide for professional development and teacher training programs. It was designed to acknowledge emerging issues and changes that have taken place in Quebec society and education in the past two decades. The document acknowledges the role educators play as cultural facilitators and advocates for the integration of Indigenous perspectives into teaching (see the accompanying document, Competency 15: Value and promote Indigenous knowledge, worldviews, cultures and history).
The document is based on 5 foundations:
- Culture is the basis of education and teaching.
- Language is an ‘instrument of communication’ and a cultural object.
- Teachers building relationships with students
- Teachers are professionals specialized in teaching and learning
- Teachers are professionals who work collaboratively
The professional competencies are also based on 3 underlying principles. Specifically, that as professionals teachers should:
- Act to further student learning and education
- Know how to exercise professional autonomy in different situations
- Base one’s teaching on current knowledge
The document outlines 13 core professional competencies for teachers. The competencies are not directly observable but demonstrated through an educator’s daily decisions, judgments, etc. The competencies are practical and developmental. They can also be evaluative and comparative.
The competencies are divided into 3 areas of duty:
Area 1: Work inside or outside the classroom [with students]
Area 2: Interactions and collaborations with all stakeholders [colleagues and parents]
Area 3: Professionalism and membership to the profession [deals with the self and staying up-to-date]
Competency 1, act as a cultural facilitator when carrying out duties, and Competency 2, master the language of instruction, are fundamental competencies that play a role in all areas.
Competency 12, mobilize digital technologies, reaffirms the importance of including technology in the classroom. For more information on digital competency, please visit our Digital Competency Framework page or that of the ministry.
We would like to specifically draw your attention to the accompanying document, Competency 15: Value and promote Indigenous knowledge, worldviews, cultures and history. This document was created by The First Nations Education Council (FNEC), and its partners the Institut Tshakapesh and the Centre de développement de la formation et de la main-d’oeuvre huron-wendat.
Competency 15 was not included in the official ministry document but contains important information on why and how teachers should integrate Indigenous knowledge and worldviews into their practice.
Reconciliation is everyone’s responsibility. We encourage teachers to read and reflect on this document and their own practice and explore what being a cultural facilitator means to them.
