Le pilotage par les résultats, un « mal nécessaire » pour les enseignants ? Analyse mixte des perceptions des enseignants du primaire quant à un système d’évaluation externe en Suisse romande

Abstract

RésuméCet article propose l'analyse des perceptions d'enseignants quant à un système d'évaluation externe des acquis des élèves dans la scolarité primaire du canton de Fribourg en Suisse. Dans ce contexte, différents types d'épreuves externes cantonales (épreuve de référence en 4 Mots-clésPilotage par les résultats, Suisse, évaluation externe, enseignants du primaire, perceptions, méthodes de recherche mixtes. AbstractThis article proposes an analysis of the perceptions of teachers regarding a system of external testing of pupils' achievements in primary schooling in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. In this context, different types of external tests (reference test in 4 th and 6 th grade; selection test in 8 th grade) must allow teachers to adjust their teaching practices. A mixed research approach was chosen to examine the experience of teachers of different levels of primary schooling (3 rd to 8 th grade), using individual interviews (N=16) and a questionnaire (N=305). The results of our study show that the external testing system is generally considered by the interviewed teachers as a «necessary evil.» On the one hand, teachers can view external testing as useful for their practices, especially in order to reassure themselves. They also found that external tests are high-quality tools and consistent with their practices. On the other hand, teachers may feel some pressure in the tests, with the feeling that their own skills are being evaluated rather than those of their pupils. These perceptions depend mainly on the characteristics of external testing systems (purposes and consequences) but also on the teachers' profile and above all on the way tests are implemented. In the studied context, lack of information and support places teachers in a tension between control and training which reinforces both the pressures linked to EE (the «evil») and reduces its formative input (the «necessary»).