A team led by Professor Maurice Tardif of the Faculty of Education at Université de Montréal has just received a $2.5 million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to carry out a research project into conditions faced by teachers across Canada and the direction in which their profession is evolving. The research project will span a five-year period and will focus on the main players and issues in Canada's education system.

"Teachers are the largest group of professionals in Canada - 6% of the active workforce. They are the cornerstone of our education system, and yet, we have very little information that could help us gauge their actual situation», notes Maurice Tardif, project director. As an example, we still do not know if the various reforms of recent years have really achieved their objectives and transformed classroom work and organization."

Everywhere in Canada, issues of ethnic diversity, replacement of teaching staff and working conditions for teachers are in the forefront of concerns. These are the issues the researchers will document and analyze. More precisely, the four main axes of research will be:

• Working conditions and replacement of teaching personnel;
• Impact of reforms and policies on teachers;
• Training and professionalism of teachers;
• Transformation of teaching practices

"By focusing on the people who shape our children's lives in their most formative years, the project will give Canadians and decision-makers a snapshot of teaching conditions in our schools», said Marc Renaud, president of SSHRC. «This research will provide a more complete picture of the state of education in Canada and help shape future policy and teaching."

The project team draws researchers from Dalhousie University, Simon Fraser University, Laval University, University of Sherbrooke, University of British Columbia, University of Saskatchewan and University of Toronto, in addition to such partners as Statistics Canada and the Council of Education Ministers of Canada.

About Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal ranks second among Canadian universities in terms of research grants and contracts. With its two affiliated schools, the École Polytechnique and the École des HEC, it offers undergraduate, master's and doctorate programs of study in almost all fields of knowledge. It has a student body of close to 50,000 and awards more than 2,500 master's and doctorate degrees each year.

About SSHRC
SSHRC is an independent federal government agency that funds university-based research and graduate training through national peer-review competitions. SSHRC also forms intellectual and financial partnerships with public and private sector organizations to focus research and aid the development of better policies and practices in key areas of Canada's social, cultural and economic life.

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Information:
Sophie Langlois
Press Agent
Université de Montréal
(514) 343-7704