Back to school
In Cugy, the last school year of a Vaudoise teacher
Murielle Vallélian will retire this fall, after forty years of profession. The school she knew has changed a lot. Encounter.
Murielle Vallélian is preparing to make her last school year back on Monday.
Odile Meylan/Tamedia
- The Vaudoise teacher Murielle Vallian will retire after forty years of teaching, mainly in Cugy.
- In his village, the number of classes have remained stable with around 20 students since 1985.
- According to her, the school has become more benevolent with more support for students in difficulty.
- The school camps in Noirmoutier are among her most beautiful memories of a teacher.
At Cugy college, where she teaches, Murielle Vallélian has the reputation of being rather strict. No question that her students were silent or call her “mistress”. Standing in their place, they must wait until “Madame” authorizes them to sit. From outside, we don’t hear a fly fly.
This Vaudoise, who will celebrate her 60th anniversary in November, does not seem strict! She welcomes us a few days before the start of the school year, a big smile on his lips, while she puts the notebooks of Zoé and Aidan on the offices. Murielle loves her work and yet she will leave him soon. This fall, after forty years of career, this young senior will put his notebooks and pencils. The opportunity, for that which is a RAM, to evoke with optimism the developments of the profession.
Class enrollments have remained stable
“When I started, in 1985, I had a class of around twenty children. This year, I am 17. I was lucky, I have never really had big numbers, ”she calculates. Murielle Vallélian began to exercise at the age of 20 in 1985, in Cugy. “Apart from a few years when I was in a school a few kilometers away, I stayed, especially because I have extraordinary colleagues,” she insists.
However, everyday life is not always easy. “Obviously, things have changed. The profession is no longer the same as before, because the school must carry out many missions. I am always a teacher, but in addition, I became a little social worker, educator, travel agent, accountant, mediator, secretary … “she list.
“When I was going to school, a period lasted an hour, and we also had a course on Saturday morning. Today, we have forty-five minutes periods, teaching times are very split. We are constantly zapping. In there, obviously we have to teach them to read, write, count … but in addition, if we can do a little nutrition education, prevention against the digital… Me, I think we disperse a little. And then for children, that is a lot. ”
She quotes Bernard André, honorary professor at the Haute Educational School (HEP), who is used to saying that “school is a prevented job”. Because the objectives are high, but the means are limited, and the teachers are not superheroes.
Wonderful camps in Noirmoutier
Among her most beautiful memories are the camps on the island of Yeu or Noirmoutier, which she is doing every two years, and where she never tires of seeing the children’s eyes shine in front of the ocean, despite the fatigue after a night spent on the bus. The end of year celebrations, giant shows, students who come back years later and say “thank you”. The giggles in the masters’ room, but also in class, with the little ones. And the worst? Students that she “could not meet”, in her own words. Deaths, too. A whole life, filled with that of others.
Apart from the childish classes she never wanted to grant, Murielle Vallélian has experienced all levels. This year, she continues in 8e With his class from the previous year. Is it true that there are more and more children who have difficulties? “Some have behavioral problems, others have a lot of trouble in learning. At 10, 11 years old, some, for example, have trouble reading, she replies. But thirty years ago, these children already existed. Simply, they had to manage anyway, without too much support. In the 90s, going to a logopedist was taboo, “recalls this redhead, whose hair, gathered in a thick square, was barely graying.
A more benevolent school
Today, if she encounters problems with a student, she knows who to go to. And despite the important paperwork, she considers that the means are available, even if it takes time to obtain them. His optimism can be read in his sparkling blue eyes. “We talk a lot about harassment With the students, she adds. It is a huge progress. On this side, the school is much more benevolent. ”
In Cugy mix Swiss families, but also Portuguese, Balkan and Ukrainian. “This year, we also had a small Georgian, who came for medical reasons and who unfortunately did not obtain asylum,” she said. She wanted to go and say goodbye in mid-August to her, before the little one flies away for her country of origin.
A teacher is at the forefront to observe the developments in society. At its beginnings, in the late 1980s, many of students were “home”, while they are a minority today. Then there were the beginnings of computer science – “When we had our first training, we did not have computers in class, so we immediately forgot out of the course.” Then the arrival of the Migros in Cugy, which encourages the children to go out at noon to go and look for chips or candies. And finally that of mobile phones.
She loves her blackboard
Murielle is not naive: she considers that school can be improved, but that certain lessons cannot be transformed into entertainment. “I often say to my students:” I am not a color instructor. The agreement of the past participle is serious and it requires effort. ”
This is why she is due to her blackboard, rather than on the big screen in her class. At that time, perhaps, we see in her intonation why some children find her “severe”. These little ones regularly populate his dreams, when the day is particularly intense. But in a few weeks, Murielle Vallélian will permanently leave her classroom.
Its ambition is to enjoy her garden more, to spend more time with her family and friends, but also to learn Italian and to dare some trips. “We, the teachers, do an important job: we take the hands of children for a few years, hoping to send them further. But we don’t change the face of the world either. You have to be modest. “
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