Defending the Teaching Profession in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

A Reading of Philippe Meirieu’s Book: "Qui veut encore des professeurs"?

Abstract

This article provides an analytical reading of Philippe Meirieu’s book Qui veut encore des professeurs? (Who Still Wants Teachers?), in which the French educational thinker and pedagogue defends the teaching profession against the profound transformations affecting contemporary education, particularly the rise of technocratic and neoliberal approaches, rapid digitalization, and artificial intelligence. The article begins by examining the book’s central thesis before discussing its main arguments, including the declining attractiveness of the teaching profession, the growing dominance of technological approaches to education, the erosion of teachers’ professional autonomy, the expansion of quantitative assessment and accountability, and the indispensable human and democratic role of teachers within the school. In its final section, the article considers the relevance of these ideas to the Moroccan educational context by discussing issues such as teacher recruitment and initial training, Pioneer Schools, pedagogical autonomy, the attractiveness of the teaching profession, and the place of knowledge within the education system. Rather than mechanically transferring Meirieu’s arguments to Morocco, the article employs them as an analytical framework for interpreting some of the ongoing transformations affecting Moroccan schooling.