STUDENT BEHAVIOR
“When I arrived here thirteen years ago, the major difficulties we had were with the students. The students were very, very tough.”
“I remember my first year at the school there were twenty-six disciplinary meetings about serious acts of violence (…) With time, I think our students have become less 'difficult,' so to speak, which doesn't mean they don't have major problems, but it's a little less difficult.”
FINDING MEANING—I DON’T GIVE UP
“On the other hand, there are conflicts about values and about how teachers are regarded that are dramatic today and that we have to weigh in on (…) So, in this context, I am never absent, I am happy at work, with a smile, and so on. It really comes down to a question of meaning. That is to say, I always have this feeling that with each day that passes, even if it is just small seeds, even if it is mini steps, I am doing something that gives meaning to the chaos of the world.”
“It all helps me to always remember what the priority is. And once again, it’s about being in an R.E.P. school (…) The question I’m often asked is, ‘But how do you do it? But how do you manage to still be here?’ It gives you a sense of purpose.”
“Finding the energy to do this (…) is about placing the meaning of my profession where it really is, that is to say with my students—and I will never get away from that (…) In any case, that meaning will make me get up in the morning and interpersonal conflicts will not prevent me from coming to work (…) I will go all out, I will go to work even when I’m sick. I will go. I will go also because this population is a population that is very sensitive to the notion of loyalty—but all students today, I think, they need to have adults they can rely on (….) These days there is so much vulnerability and uncertainty on so many levels (…) The other day somebody—I don’t know who it was—said, ‘Ah, but anyway, Ms. Hélène is always there’.”