The president of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC), Teresa Cabré (l'Argentera, Baix Camp, 1947), frames the teaching of languages in schools in the decline in the use of Catalan. And this information, she emphasizes, is fundamental. The school must anticipate this social situation, reposition itself, and commit to the mission entrusted to it. First of all, teach knowledge. Knowledge of language and literature. Secondly, promote the use of Catalan among students.
In the opinion of the president of the IEC, Catalan is taught well in the classrooms and there are campaigns that remind us that the language used in school is Catalan. But it's not enough. The society of immediacy does not value the language or fear its loss, nor does it recognize the work of teachers and the values it transmits.
In any case, the measure to turn this issue around necessarily involves involving teachers. There are some very active ones; others, not so much.
“Without the involvement of the Catalan teacher, who transmits his passion for the language, it is difficult for students to learn it with enthusiasm,” he says. In Cabré's opinion, the teacher is an active agent of normalization and must be reminded of his role and encouraged. It is also worth assessing what type of teachers enter the educational system.
“The National Pact for Language, which is the will of Catalan society not to lose Catalan, means that all organizations must know that they have to reach a certain goal,” he says.
What is the school's? “It is not only that the students pass minimum knowledge but that Catalan becomes part of their lives.” To do this, he believes that the administration must have clear ideas and transfer them to the educational system.
“The topic must be made explicit, so that it is known what role the school, the teachers, and, specifically, what is expected of the Catalan teacher with respect to the Catalan language. This, right now, is not like that.”
On the other hand, he adds, the function of the school cannot be trivialized: the school teaches and teaches knowledge. “Teachers have to have a good knowledge of the subject, especially grammar, they cannot feel weak in this,” he points out.
They must also have literary culture. “It cannot be that, as is currently the case, students do not know the names of classic authors in Catalan and Spanish. That doesn't happen in France, they know them, they read them, they dress up as their characters at carnival."
Cabré also disagrees with setting aside readings because students may find them unfriendly. “The mission of the school is for them to learn. It is true that now it is more difficult to put it into practice because there are many levels in a classroom, students arrive in the middle of the course, they do not understand the language.
And also because you have to deal with families, with a lax idea regarding the effort that must be made to learn and who do not value or recognize the work of the school.
“All of this must be contemplated because, whether we like it or not, it is the society we live in.” But it is a challenge that the school can take on if it is not separated from its main function. “You can't ask for so many priorities at the same time, because they stop being priorities. "We must go to the root of the problems that come with the complexity of teaching, create optimal conditions and address general methodological deficits."
